Less Japanese wanting to watch 2020 Tokyo Games at venues: Jiji Poll

July 24, 2019

Tokyo--Only less than 40 pct of Japanese people are eager to watch the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics at venues, according to a recent Jiji Press opinion poll.

The proportion of respondents who said they are interested in actually going to the venues to watch Olympic and Paralympic events, including the opening and closing ceremonies, dropped 8.5 percentage points from a year ago to 37.1 pct.

The poll showed that the proportion of those who answered that they are negative about watching the events at the sites rose to 62.4 pct from 53.4 pct.

As reasons for not wanting to go out, with multiple answers allowed, 71.2 pct said watching the events on television is enough.

The poll showed 40.0 pct said event places are too far to visit and 23.5 pct said tickets for events that they want to watch are hard to get and expensive. Heatstroke and other health concerns were cited by 20.6 pct.

When asked if they have applied for tickets online or have intention to buy them later on, 66.5 pct said they have no plans to buy, and 15.2 pct said they have not applied and have not decided whether to buy.

On the other hand, 6.3 pct said they have not applied but want to get tickets, and 5.3 pct answered that they failed to get tickets through online applications but are still eager to get them.

The survey also found out that 40.2 pct of respondents are worried about the inconvenience of transportation caused by traffic jam and crowds of people expected during the 2020 Games period.

While 39.1 pct expressed concerns about ballooning costs for the Tokyo Games that could be covered by taxpayers' money and 38.7 pct said they are worried about possible terrorist attacks and crimes.

The July 5-8 survey covered 2,000 people aged 18 and older, with 61.7 pct giving valid responses. Jiji Press