KYODO NEWS


 

Over 60 percent of companies across Japan are reluctant to have the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics held this year due to concerns about the country's low COVID-19 vaccination rate, a survey by a credit research company showed earlier this week.

The online survey conducted by Tokyo Shoko Research from June 1 to 9 found that 34.7 percent of 9,163 firms responding would prefer the games to be canceled, while 29.3 percent wanted them to be postponed.

Conversely, 36.0 percent of companies said they wanted the major sporting event to be held as scheduled, down about 8 points from the previous survey in February.

In multiple answers, 76.3 percent of firms cited the low vaccination rate as the reason for wanting to postpone or cancel the games, followed by 75.7 percent referring to concerns that the arrival of Olympic personnel from overseas could help worsen the coronavirus infection situation in Japan.

A further 63.6 percent responded that diverting medical workers for the event would cause a strain on the general health care system in Japan.

Regarding the impact that canceling or postponing the games would have on their business, 58.8 percent of the 4,092 firms that responded said it would have a "large negative impact," while 41.2 percent said the opposite.