Poll: Support Rising in Japan for Tokyo Olympics this Summer

TOKYO - Around a third of Japanese now back holding the Olympics, up from just 14 percent last month, a new poll showed Monday, though a majority still prefer cancellation or postponement because of the pandemic. 

The poll reinforces other recent surveys that suggest opposition to Tokyo 2020 is softening slightly, just over a month before the July 23 opening ceremony.  Support for holding the virus-postponed Games rose to 34 percent, according to the poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper published on Monday.  However, 32 percent still want the Games to be cancelled altogether and 30 percent want the games to be delayed again, down from 43 percent and 40 percent in last month's survey, respectively.