A survey shows that more than 70 percent of the public wants Tokyo to host the 2016 Olympics, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Thursday.
Of 1,000 Tokyoites and 2,000 people in other prefectures aged 15 or older, 70.2 percent want the Olympics to be held in the capital and 20.4 percent said they do not, the survey found. Support among Tokyoites was 68.6 percent, while support outside Tokyo came to 71 percent.
The results exceeded those of the previous two surveys, which came to 59 percent in June 2008 and 62 percent in December 2007, the metro government said.
"We finally obtained support from 70 percent of Japanese nationals, but we definitely need to try to raise more enthusiasm from the public," Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said.
Tokyo is competing with Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid to host the spectacle. The four cities must submit their plans to the International Olympic Committee by Feb. 12.
The Jan. 7-9 poll was conducted via the Internet by Yahoo Value Insight Corp. at the Tokyo 2016 Bid Committee's request.