An NHK opinion poll shows that the approval rate for Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide's Cabinet dropped to 42 percent, down 14 points from last month. The disapproval rate rose to 36 percent, up 17 points.
The telephone survey was conducted over the weekend. More than 1,200 people responded.
A Japanese government survey shows the country's smoking rate fell to a record low last year.
The health ministry surveyed about 5,700 people aged 20 or over last November.
With a new generation of Civic arriving for 2022, it's no surprise the 2021 Honda Civic has a pared-down lineup. Previously, the company announced that the coupe was being discontinued, and the Si performance models would be on hiatus until the next generation. Now we know that Honda is also dropping the manual transmission option from the sedan bodystyle.
The manual transmission choices for the sedan were already limited for the 2020 model year. It was only available with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder on the base LX and Sport trims, or on the Si trim. Still, if you're looking for a manual Civic sedan, remaining 2020 Civic Si sedans will still be on lots for a while. And if you need a manual 2021 Civic, you can still get it on Civic Sport and Sport Touring hatchbacks, as well as the Type R. We also expect manual offerings to expand again with the next-generation model coming soon.
An NHK opinion poll shows that the approval rating for Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide's Cabinet has dropped 7 points to 55 percent. The disapproval rating has risen 7 points to 20 percent.
NHK telephoned 2,236 randomly chosen people aged 18 or older over a three-day period starting on Friday. Fifty-seven percent, or 1,284 people, responded.
Japanese industrial giant Hitachi is pulling the plug on construction of a nuclear power plant in Britain.
Hitachi says its board of directors decided on Wednesday to withdraw from the project on the island of Anglesey in Wales.
The population of Japan has fallen for the 11th straight year. The amount of the decline has set a record for six years in a row.
The internal affairs ministry compiled the country's population based on the Basic Resident Register.
The latest Japanese government figures show the average monthly wage for workers declined in April as businesses closed voluntarily to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The labor ministry released the preliminary results on Tuesday, from its survey of more than 30,000 businesses across the country.
May 5 is Children's Day in Japan.
The number of children in the country has declined every year since 1982, and is now at an all-time low.
Major Japanese cities have seen sharp declines in visitor numbers amid the nationwide state of emergency.
Telecom company NTT Docomo has released anonymous tracking data for Japan's 47 prefectures.