Fewer than 40 percent of Japanese people want to watch the Tokyo Olympic or Paralympic Games at event venues, a recent Jiji Press opinion poll has shown.

According to the survey, 9.2 percent said they definitely want to watch Olympic or Paralympic opening or closing ceremony or competitions at event venues, while 27.4 percent want to attend such events if possible.

The total figure of 36.7 percent is down from 37.1 percent in July last year, the last time the survey covered the subject, and 45.6 percent in 2018.

As many as 62.8 percent said they do not want to attend such events. The figure includes 23.2 percent who said they do not want at all to watch them at event venues and 39.5 pct who do not want to attend them so much.

Asked about reasons, with multiple answers allowed, 70.0 percent said they are satisfied with television broadcasts and other types of coverage, 38.5 pct said event venues are too far away to travel to and 22.0 pct said they are worried about heatstroke and other problems due to expected high temperatures during the Tokyo Games period.

The low level of interest in attending Tokyo Games events is also believed to reflect concerns over the growing COVID-19 coronavirus infections.

Regarding Olympic and Paralympic tickets, only 1.3 percent said they have won tickets in lottery.

The largest group, of 69.6 percent , said they do not plan to buy tickets, followed by 15.8 pct who did not join the lottery and have not decided whether to buy from now and 5.6 pct who failed to win the lottery and have not decided what to do from now.

Also, 4.7 percent said they did not apply for tickets in the lottery but want to buy one, while 2.4 percent said they failed to win the lottery and want to buy one.

On elements of concern about the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the largest proportion, at 39.9 percent , said they cited inconvenience in transportation caused by traffic jams and congestion.

Some 38.0 percent said costs for the Tokyo Games may increase, causing more of taxpayers' money to be used to finance them, while 37.2 percent are worried that Japan may become a target for crimes or acts of terrorism.

The interview-based survey was conducted on 2,000 people aged 18 or older across Japan for four days through Feb. 9. Valid responses were collected from 61.1 percent .

JIJI Press