A total of 913 families in the prefecture have offered accommodation to friends and families of Olympic athletes and officials, but so far only 396 people have taken up the offer, organizers of the Olympic homestay program said.

Organizers said they are not sure of the reason behind the poor response, but reckoned that many athletes could not make up their mind whether to use the facilities as the roster of many Olympic teams was not decided until shortly before the Games opened on Feb. 7.

Officials at the Association of Nagano Prefecture for Promoting International Exchange, sponsors of the Olympic homestay program, say they have received 36 cancellations, some from relatives of athletes who did not make their nation's Olympic team.

To those who came, the experience has been rewarding.

Shirley Costa, mother of an Australian mogul skier who is staying with a family in Nagano, says those people who decided not to participate in the program do not know what they are missing.

''If you stay in a hotel, it's very comfortable but you could be anywhere,'' Costa said. ''If you're in homestay, you are really experiencing the country you're in.''

Costa and each member of her host family always have a dictionary at hand, pointing to words to communicate.

''But we're doing fine,'' said Costa, adding she is getting more out of the visit by seeing how people live in Japan.

Homestay organizers, who have prepared the Japanese families by holding meetings to answer their questions and passing out phrase books in different languages, say they are still hopeful that more visitors will participate in the program.

The organizers decided Monday last week to allow embassy officials and members of the media from developing countries, originally not part of the program, to apply for homestay.

Organizers still hope the number of participants will rise before the program closes on March 15, a day after the closing day of the Paralympic Games. (Kyodo News)