A survey showed Wednesday that 58.5 per cent of adults in Japan want the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to be held with limited numbers of spectators to reduce coronavirus risks.
The Tokyo Summer Games were postponed by one year to 2021 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In the survey, conducted by Central Research Services Inc., a Jiji Press affiliate, 15.6 per cent said the Tokyo Games should not be held, while 11.0 per cent said the games should be held without spectators.
Meanwhile, 7.2 per cent said such restrictions are not necessary.
The annual public opinion survey on sports also showed that 62.4 per cent of all respondents are excited about the Tokyo Games very much or to some extent.
Marathon emerged as the most anticipated event, replacing swimming, which fell to second place.
In the survey, former Japanese major league baseball player Ichiro Suzuki was chosen as the most popular athlete in Japan for the second straight year.
Suzuki, who retired as a player for the Seattle Mariners in March, was followed by Japanese professional tennis star Kei Nishikori. Japanese major league player Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels came in third.
The survey, conducted through interviews from July 3 to13, covered people aged 20 or older across the nation. Valid answers were collected from 1,202 of them.