TOKYO, Oct. 10 -- The approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet stood during the weekend at 59.1 percent, the fourth-highest for a Cabinet since such surveys of new Cabinet began in 1978, the nation's major newspaper Yomiuri daily reported on Wednesday.

       According to the newspaper's survey conducted on Friday and Saturday, 44 percent of the respondents, the largest number, cited the "feeling of reassurance" the Cabinet gave them as the reason they supported Fukuda, and 32 percent, the greatest number, said the current Cabinet should continue as long as possible.

       About the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission on the Indian Ocean, the major issue dominating the ruling and the opposition parties' Diet battle, 49 percent of respondents supported Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's stand and said the mission should continue, while 37 percent opposed it.