LATEST NEWS:

News Desk

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Publication Date : 03-03-2013

An overwhelming 83 per cent of respondents said they supported Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, up from 72 per cent in January last year, a Yomiuri Shimbun survey revealed.

The approval rate in the February survey was the highest figure among five that have asked about the capital's bids to host the Games, including surveys on the failed bid for the 2016 event.

Tokyo's Olympic promotion campaigns appear to have significantly affected people's attitude toward hosting the Games.

The percentage of those who opposed Tokyo's hosting of the Olympics dropped from 22 per cent in the last survey to 12 per cent this time.

Also according to the survey, 73 per cent of those who support hosting the Games said they expected a positive economic effect; 37 per cent said it would help promote sports; and 36 per cent said it would allow Japan to show the world the progress it has made in rebuilding from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

When asked about the World Baseball Classic, which began Saturday, 65 per cent expressed an interest in the games--roughly the same level as in the previous survey before the 2009 classic.

On favorite sports to watch, professional baseball took the top spot for the 19th consecutive year with 46 per cent. Respondents were allowed to pick multiple sports for this question.

The Yomiuri Giants topped the list of favourite baseball teams for the 22nd straight year with 29 per cent, up seven percentage points from last year.

Meanwhile, 69 per cent said corporal punishment by coaches or instructors does not help improve athletic performance.

When asked why such punishment happens, "coaches' temperaments" and "the nature of the sporting world" both received 46 per cent of replies.

Forty-nine per cent said corporal punishment is unacceptable under any circumstances, while 45 per cent said it should be allowed in some situations.

The survey was conducted on February 23 and 24 in face-to-face interviews with 3,000 eligible voters randomly selected at 250 locations nationwide. Of those, valid answers were obtained from 1,455, or 49 per cent.