Support ratings for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rebounded following his dissolving the lower house, media surveys showed Wednesday.

The leading Asahi Shimbun daily showed that the approval rate for his cabinet rose 5 percentage points to 46 percent, while the disapproval rate dropped 4 points to 38 percent.

In another major newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the support rate shot up 9 points to 46 percent, while the disapproval rate fell 3 points to 37 percent.

The premier dissolved the lower house on Monday immediately after his postal reform bills failed to get through the upper house, which is not subject to dissolution.

The setback was mainly due to rebellion from his own Liberal Democratic Party as many members were worried about losing support from the influential postal service system.

The surveys in the two newspapers and the Yomiuri Shimbun found that the people who supported the dissolution well exceeded those who were against the move.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2005)