Nihon Yoron Chosakai conducted a nationwide mail-in survey to probe views on the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. A total of 55% of respondents said that they are either “interested” (17%) or “generally interested” (38%) in the 2022 Winter Games.
Some 65% of pollees said they are either “in favor” or “generally in favor” of Sapporo City’s hosting the 2030 Winter Games, vastly exceeding the 34% who said that they are either “opposed” or “generally opposed” to the idea.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations have declared a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Olympics because of China’s human rights issues. Asked whether they think national leaders should attend the opening ceremony, 37% said they should not and 36% said they do not know. Meanwhile, 54% said that the Japanese delegation of athletes should participate. (Abridged)
Selected polling questions and answers (%)
Q: Some national teams and national government leaders in Western countries have announced a boycott of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games because of human rights issues in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. What is your view on boycotting?
- Participation of Team Japan in Olympics
|
Should participate |
54 |
|
Should not participate |
11 |
|
Don’t know |
33 |
|
No answer |
2 |
- Participation of national leaders in the opening ceremonies
|
Should participate |
25 |
|
Should not participate |
37 |
|
Don’t know |
36 |
|
No answer |
2 |
[Polling methodology: A total of 3,000 men and women aged 18 or over were randomly selected nationwide from 250 locations on a stratified two-stage random-sampling basis to create a cross-section of Japan’s slightly more than 100 million voters. On Nov. 16, 2021, questionnaires were sent out by postal mail, and 1,976 completed questionnaires had been returned as of Dec. 24. Valid responses were received from 1,925 people, excluding questionnaires completed improperly or by persons other than the intended voter. The valid response rate was 64.2%. The makeup of the polling sample was as follows: male, 48.8%; female, 51.2%. Sections of Fukushima Prefecture heavily impacted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were excluded from the survey pool.
[Nihon Yoron Chosakai is a nationwide public opinion polling entity managed by Kyodo News and comprising 38 of its subscribers including Tokyo Shimbun.
