Less than 10 percent of Japanese people feel positive about the new national resident registry system, while nearly half oppose it, according to a private opinion survey released Saturday.

The survey, conducted by Nippon Research Center, shows that 3.1 percent of respondents were in favor of the centralized resident registry, while 6.6 percent felt "somewhat in favor" of it.

In contrast, 17.8 percent said they are opposed to the registry system and 30.2 percent said they are "somewhat opposed." The combined total of those opposed comes to 48 percent.

Nippon Research Center said it polled 2,200 people aged between 15 and 79 across the nation in early September. The response rate was 58.9 percent.

The centralized registry system, which was implemented Aug. 5, records residents' personal information and gives every individual an 11-digit identification number. Some municipalities have opted out on the grounds that the system is open to abuse.

The survey allowed respondents opposed to the national registry to give multiple reasons for their opposition.

The most often cited reason, chosen by 79.8 percent, is the fear of "personal information being leaked." Following that is concern that the "benefits of the system are not clear," which 45.7 percent of people agreed with.

Fears that the system would "lead to tightened surveillance of private information" was cited by 35 percent, while the suggestion that the system has been "full of problems since it was introduced" was identified by 28.5 percent.