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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga started in 2021 by promising that the delayed Tokyo Olympics would go ahead in July, even as Japan faces a surge in coronavirus cases and the mounting cost of an event that is becoming increasingly popular. most unpopular with the public.
“The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held this summer,” Suga said in a written statement for the New Year, describing the event as a symbol of world unity. “We will make constant preparations for a safe and secure tournament.”
Japan and the International Olympic Committee decided last March to postpone the games for a year as the coronavirus pandemic sent much of the world into lockdown.
The games, which involve some 11,000 athletes from around the world, will now take place over two weeks starting July 23, with the Paralympic Games to follow afterward. The event budget has risen by about $ 2.4 billion as a result of the delay, organizers said in December, bringing the total to more than $ 15 billion.
The year of # Tokio2020 It’s upon us! #UnitedByEmotion 🥰@Olympic Games AND @ Paralympics 2⃣0⃣2⃣1⃣🔜🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/OEEgp63eq0
– # Tokio2020 (@ Tokio2020) January 1, 2021
IOC President Thomas Bach, who visited Japan in November, reiterated the IOC’s commitment to the games in a video to mark the beginning of the New Year, noting that Tokyo was the “best prepared” Olympic city of all time.
“These Olympics will be the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Bach.
“They will be a celebration of solidarity, of the unity of humanity in all our diversity and of resilience.”
In Japan, however, public opinion also seems to be turning against the event.
A poll released by public broadcaster NHK in December found that only 27 percent of people wanted the games to go ahead, compared with 40 percent in October. The proportion that preferred cancellation increased to 32 percent, compared with 23 percent in October. The rest wanted another postponement, but the IOC has ruled it out.
With seven months to go, Japan is grappling with an increase in COVID-19 cases, which reached record levels in Tokyo and across the country on December 31.
IOC chief Thomas Bach was met with small protests when he visited Japan in November. Public support for the Olympics appears to be declining [File: Issei Kato/Reuters]
Suga, who took office in September following Shinzo Abe’s resignation, has been criticized for his government’s response to the wave of infections after he continued to back a now-suspended program introduced by his predecessor to promote domestic tourism.
It has resisted calls for tougher measures, but the Nikkei newspaper reported over the weekend that Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike would call for a state of emergency in a meeting with Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura scheduled for Saturday. in the afternoon.
‘I prayed for the end of the pandemic’
The government previously urged the Japanese to limit their New Year celebrations to curb the spread of the virus.
The New Year is one of the most important holidays in Japan, when many businesses, including restaurants, typically close for a week to allow families to spend time together.
People also pray at local temples, with about three million often descending to the popular Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo.
Visits to temples and shrines are part of the New Year celebrations in Japan, and about three million people visit the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo during the first days of the New Year. [Kimimasa Mayama/EPA]
Visitors observe social distancing and pray for their health, property and a good future during their first visit of the new year to the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. [Kimimasa Mayama/EPA]
This year was quieter with masked visitors lining up behind a tape on the ground to keep socially distant from each other.
“The past year was full of depressing news due to the coronavirus, so I prayed that people around the world would find more happiness,” said a woman in her 40s named Nami, after offering her prayers at the shrine.
“I prayed for a quick end to the pandemic,” said Megumi, a sports coach in her 40s, adding that she hopes “to spend the year enjoying new ways that I can connect with friends.”
In his New Years declaration, Suga also promised to “protect people’s lives” and promised to work on “virus countermeasures and economic recovery.”
Japan has steered clear of strict closures instead of encouraging people to wear masks, wash their hands, and avoid crowded and confined spaces.
While there is growing concern about the current increase in cases, Japan’s outbreak appears limited compared to other parts of the world. The country of nearly 126.5 million people has reported 3,341 deaths since registering its first case in January, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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