A total of 67 per cent of Tokyo's population is now backing the campaign, which has grown from 58 per cent since the survey undertaken before the start of London 2012.

Even more significantl is that it is 20 per cent higher than when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) carried out a poll earlier this year.

Low public support was seen as one of the main reasons why Tokyo did not win its bid for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, which were awarded to Rio de Janeiro.

It is something that Japanese officials had pledged to address for this latest bid to bring the Games back to Tokyo for the first time since 1964.

A variety of opinion polls always indicate that more than 80 million people in Japan back the bid, Tokyo 2020 officials claim.

"Japan's passion for sports is strong, and excitement for the Games in Tokyo in 2020 is constantly growing," said a spokesman for Tokyo 2020.

"One recent example is the first ever parade of Olympic medalists which was a fantastic success.

"In the middle of a busy workweek, a half-million spectators turned out to cheer our nation's heroes.

In a democracy like Japan public support is earned day by day, and we have no doubt that support figures will continue to increase in the coming weeks and months."

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