Fewer than 70 percent of respondents nationwide support Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
The telephone survey conducted Tuesday and Wednesday found that only 67.8 percent of respondents were in favor of Tokyo hosting its second Olympics since the 1964 Summer Games.
The result showed a clear problem with support with just five months remaining before the International Olympic Committee general assembly names the host city in an Oct. 2 vote in Copenhagen. Tokyo is vying against Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.
Support among Tokyo residents was more than 10 points lower at just 55.6 percent, despite the Tokyo organizing bid committee's various promotion campaigns to stir interest in the Games, including TV commercials and other events.
A total of 28.5 percent said they are against Tokyo hosting the Games.
In the survey, phone calls were made to numbers selected randomly by computer. A total of 1,463 households were called, with responses received from 1,014 individuals.