More Japanese firms against Olympics: Poll

TOKYO • More than half of the Japanese companies that were interviewed feel the Tokyo Olympic Games, originally planned for this summer but postponed for a year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, should be cancelled or put off again, a survey by a Japanese think-tank has found.

Of some 13,000 companies that responded to the poll by Tokyo Shoko Research, 27.8 per cent said the quadrennial sporting extravaganza should be axed, while 25.8 per cent saw another delay as desirable.

Japan lifted in late May a state of emergency imposed to slow down the spread of Covid-19 after recording fewer infections, but cases have been on the rise since last month. The country had about 60,000 cases and more that 1,150 deaths.

"With the end of the spread of infection nowhere in sight, companies are divided into for and against holding the event in 2021," the research group said in a report published on Thursday.

Of the companies that were surveyed, 22.5 per cent felt the Tokyo Games, scheduled to start next July, should be held as planned, while 18.4 per cent said they ought to be held with fewer spectators and 5.3 per cent called for a closed-door event.

The poll was conducted over the Internet between late last month and early this month.

Last month, another survey done by Kyodo News Agency found that just one in four people in Japan wanted to see the Tokyo Games held next year, with most backing either a further delay or cancellation.

A recent poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper also revealed that only 33 per cent of respondents backed the staging of the Olympics, with 61 per cent supporting another postponement or scrapping it all together.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS