Survey: 80 Percent Of Japanese Citizens Want The Tokyo Olympics To Be Canceled Or Postponed

JAKARTA - A survey conducted by Japan's Kyodo news agency on Sunday showed that around 80 percent of Japanese citizens want this year's Tokyo Olympics to be canceled or postponed following concerns over a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

That figure is a jump from the results of a similar survey as much as 60 percent conducted by Kyodo on December 6.

Kyodo, as quoted by Antara from AFP, said the survey involved 1,041 participants from all over Japan who were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone.

As many as 35.3 percent of people surveyed wanted the Olympics to be canceled and 44.8 percent wanted the world games to be postponed.

The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to be held last year but due to the pandemic it was postponed and rescheduled for 23 July to 8 August this year.

Tokyo 2020 organizers insist the Olympics will continue despite a state of emergency issued for the Tokyo area this week.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in the Tokyo area on Thursday and could extend the status to other areas at a time when Japan is struggling to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Suga has recently come under fire for disillusionment with his efforts to tackle the pandemic and the level of public support has fallen since he took office in September.

Suga this week also said Japan was committed to holding the Olympics safely.

But International Olympic Committee senior official Dick Pound told the BBC he did not believe the Olympics could take place because he said the main problem was the increase in COVID-19 cases.

The public's voice towards the Olympics in Japan has also tended to be less optimistic in recent months.

Two surveys conducted in July showed a majority of participants thought the Olympics should be postponed or canceled, while a survey released in December by national broadcaster NHK found only 27 percent of respondents supported the Olympics in 2021.