This Feb 4, 2021, photo shows a face mask-clad pedestrian walking past the logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)

TOKYO - A majority of Japanese remain opposed to holding the Olympics this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic but the ratio lowered significantly from recent polls, a Yomiuri newspaper poll showed on Monday.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed last year due to the pandemic and rescheduled to take place this year starting on July 23

Some 28 percent of respondents said they want the Olympics to be cancelled and the same ratio of people think they should be held without spectators, the poll showed.

The Yomiuri poll showed a combined 61 percent wanting the Games to be postponed or cancelled altogether, around 20 percent points lower than recent opinion polls.

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Just 36 percent of the public are in favour of holding the Tokyo Olympics this summer, of which 28 percent are calling for no spectators while the remaining 8 percent back allowing spectators.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to take place this year starting on July 23.

Some 56 percent expected the coronavirus pandemic to remain unchanged in the summer, while 37 percent anticipated improvement and 3 percent saw it getting worse. Some 70 percent believed the vaccination would help resolve the situation, outweighing those who saw no containment.