Over half of firms in Japan believe the Tokyo Olympic Games should be canceled or postponed, a survey by think tank Tokyo Shoko Research showed Monday, casting further doubt over the fate of the troubled Games.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has vowed to put conditions in place to host the once-postponed Summer Olympics from July 23, but the nation is struggling to contain the novel coronavirus and has lagged behind western countries in rolling out vaccines.
The survey, conducted online Feb. 1-8, showed 56.0% of the companies polled felt Japan should cancel or postpone the Games, up from 53.6% in the previous survey that was conducted in August.
Only 7.7% of the firms surveyed said the Games should proceed in full form as scheduled this year, down from 22.5% in the previous survey.
Nearly 20% said they should be held with a limited number of spectators, while another 17% said they should proceed with no spectators, the survey showed.
Over 70% of firms said canceling or postponing the games would have barely any impact on their earnings.
The survey, which polled over 11,000 firms, was conducted before Friday's resignation by Tokyo 2020 Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori over sexist remarks, which has left the games searching for a chief five months from the opening ceremony.