Fukushima joins other Olympic venues in barring fans

The tests are showing negative, positive, negative?

Don't seem accurate to me…

Fukushima was the early focus of the Olympics

Yeah, seems quaint now. Omotenashi, shining beacons, abemario.

It’s a shame the curtain dropped and exposed it all for the money grab sham it is.

Perhaps a fitting photo for ‘the cover’ of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Commemorative Mook ?

What happened to the much touted yet now fabled “Omotenashi” ?

Two more prefectures outside the immediate Tokyo area have decided to bar fans from attending Olympic events because of rising coronavirus infections, Tokyo Olympic organizers confirmed on Saturday with the pandemic-delayed games opening in just under two week

Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan has decided to hold its baseball and softball events without spectators. It has been joined by the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, which will hold soccer games without fans at the Sapporo Dome.

That's good decision for stopping infection, also make sure all those tickets being refunded.

Funny part?

The main Olympic events will be packed with the so called VIPs, ignoring all anti-Covid measures.

So the “no public” idea is more of a “no peasant” concept that anything else.

The Elite will be present.

Look at that ‘Joker’, appropriately depicted in the center of this ‘Five Ring Circus’.

“Protesters against the Tokyo Games confront police on Sat. The poster, center, a picture of IOC Pres. Bach and graffiti over his face. Photo: AP/Kwiyeon Ha” -

Protesters against the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games confront police officers in Tokyo on Saturday

The other way around, surely:

https://twitter.com/tsuraiDeth_shi/status/1413739916253483013

Apparently the police told the small group of middle-aged people to demonstrate elsewhere as they were "harming the interests of Japan" by protesting the Olympics.

First Shinzo Abe claimed opponents of the Olympics were "anti-Japanese" and now the NPA is claiming this $30 billion ripoff and potential superspreader event is in the interests of Japan.

A ‘devilish’ photo composition, obviously approved in editorial: Perhaps the center black ring infers *not** ‘the halo of a messiah’ but the ‘horniness & greed of a deceiver’?*

What happened to the much touted yet now fabled “Omotenashi” ?

"Omotenashi" only works until it's you that has to deal with it.

@Alfie

Apparently the police told the small group of middle-aged people to demonstrate elsewhere as they were "harming the interests of Japan" by protesting the Olympics.

Unfortunately in this case the police are not intelligent enough to realize the protesters are, in fact, acting in the best interest of Japan. If the Olympics turn into an event where significant virus spread occurs the Olympics and Japan will never be forgotten. The history books will be teaching future generations about the new 2021 Pandemic which occured due to viral mutation caused by bringing people together from nearly every country in the world during a global pandemic and local State of Emergency.

...one that had a red line drawn through the face of Bach and was captioned: “You Are Not Welcome.”

Very disrespectful.

"Why are the Olympics being given special treatment? He (Suga) needs to explain the reasoning better,"

That's for sure.

I can't complain about that photo of Bach. It suits him. That says it all.

about 40 people staged a small anti-Olympic protest outside the five-star hotel where he is self-isolating

Forty might be a respectable number if these games were being held in a tiny village somewhere, but this is Tokyo we’re taking about.

While I’m totally against having these games here, the “protesting” has hardly been very inspiring. Whether that’s because people fear getting arrested, shamed, doxxed, or whatever, I don’t know.

I keep thinking “what if this situation occurred in France?”. The streets would be on fire.

@tamanegi

...one that had a red line drawn through the face of Bach and was captioned: “You Are Not Welcome.”

Very disrespectful.

At tamanegi. I agree with your post. However Bach fully deserves the disrespect as he has shown he has absolutely no respect for the Japanese citizens.

While I’m totally against having these games here, the “protesting” has hardly been very inspiring. Whether that’s because people fear getting arrested, shamed, doxxed, or whatever, I don’t know.

I keep thinking “what if this situation occurred in France?”. The streets would be on fire.

Take away independent unions and a strong social safety net and substitute a strong subservience to figures of authority and there you have it.

Not looking forward to the consumption tax rate going up from 10% to 12% to pay for this folly of an event. Luckily, the IOC will still receive it's $350 million USD television rights payment for the Olympics taking place and sharing nothing with Japan to offset the costs.

Glad to see Fukushima and Hokkaido as neighbouring prefectures of Tokyo. For a moment, I thought they were on the other side of Japan.

In 2020 Japan postponed the Olympics for one year and they knew it would be coming in 2021. Yet, they failed to vaccinate the population. All of the other G7 nations are way ahead of Japan. Even knowing the Olympics were coming Japan failed to prepare. This is the definition of lack of leadership. Yet, people are so polite that they don't blame the government. Wow!

I just love that photo of Bach depicted as a crown

It suits him very well

I want that in my room lol

Mr. Bach, you have to consider the opinion poll of Japanese people agaist the Tokyo Olympic games! we hate you to come to Japan and especially go to Hiroshima, a special place for Japanese people!

They have suddenly decided to ban fans not beacause of corona virus, but because of the pressure of the central government

If the government and IOC believe that it is safe to hold the Olympics, then why have they started the 4th state of emergency until the end of the Olympics and have banned spectators to almost all events? Of course the banned doesn't include IOC family and friends and government officials and executives and their family and friends. This is not the Japan Olympics, It's the Privileged Olympics.

And no, I'm not being anti-Japanese. I'm being pro-Japanese and speaking for the protect of Japanese. Please do not import then export the virus.

What in the world is the significance of holding the Olympic at all? It only helps IOC to get revenue from broadcasters. Japan is a big loser.

Yeah! It’s easier to bar fans than to manage them. Way to go Japan! (Not!)

“Many people including children have been looking forward to the games, and I'm very sorry to take away their chance of watching baseball and softball at the stadium,” Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori said Saturday. “It was a very tough decision to make.”

Why did you make the decision then? Weak.

Oof! Plain negative imperative conjugation! Take heed Bach!

Yes, police is now in big dilemma. On one side they have to act on orders from above and care for their careers and monthly income. On the other side they set the lives in danger that they usually are obliged to protect, that of the Japanese people, the police’ own family members and also their own. They should have closed the borders and barred entry to all venues, declaring it anti-pandemic measures in the interest of Japan. That would have solved the whole problem practically. Not even need to cancel insisting in continuing with the games, just only a few standing police forces denying entry. That would have been sufficient.

The world is under the impression that Japan is in a state of emergency to prevent the spread of the virus. That's interesting considering that camping plans for the 22nd and 23rd of July have been cancelled as every campground in the Kanto area is fully booked.

Guess I'll just take the bike to the mountains, if they are not overly jammed with people on a "state of emergency".

The pandemic has not been as severe in Japan as other places, but the country has not performed as well as some of its Asian neighbors.

We know why it looks like it hasn't been serious, when conditions to get a PCR test is deliberately made

difficult and ambiguous and depends on the interpretation of a welfare worker, there is no contact tracing it means thousands of cases will go uncounted and unnoticed. It is like police going out to catch over speeding cars but concentrate on the luxury sports cars and neglecting most of the speeding normal cars and then later report that few cars they caught speeding were the nly cars speeding.

This has been such a nightmare I am sure the people in charge of this just want it all to be over so they can get on from this mess.

Organizers on Saturday said 18 people holding Olympic accreditations have tested positive since July 1. Most are listed as “residents of Japan." Organizers include few details in the list, which they say is to protect privacy.

Nobody is asking for names so what privacy are they talking about ? when pressed further they will release a piece of paper all concealed with black ink and nothing to glean from it. We have seen that just too often.

A Lithuanian Olympic swimmer who arrived Wednesday and tested negative subsequently tested positive at his training camp venue. On Saturday, he tested negative at a local hospital in Hiratsuka City near Tokyo, the city said.

This is going to be the most controversial Olympics ever, Imagine this happened to the Lithuanian swimmer a day to the race and because of the false positive is ruled out from participating and missing out and all the hard work preparing for the olympics down in the drain only for a subsequent test after the discipline is over turns up negative who is going to bear the responsibility of the athlete missing out. Just hoping this negative--Positive--- negative yo-yo results doesn’t happen too often to the athletes of the smaller nations.

Nobody is asking for names so what privacy are they talking about ? when pressed further they will release a piece of paper all concealed with black ink and nothing to glean from it. We have seen that just too often.

People will be treated like criminals and stalked by the media if their names are released. Is that hard to understand?

No doubt this Olympics has been handled badly.

However I have to wonder why the focus is on Bach? Abe was offered a two year delay by Bach in 2019, taking us to 2022. He didn't take it because he selfishly wanted to be the man at the top, and gambled Japan's reputation to try and enhance his own.

How has Abe escaped any blame in this?

I want to know if it's safe to get on the Yamanote line on Monday?

I mean if it's not safe to stand outside watching the rowing socially distanced, masked and out in the sunlight, surely a crammed train at 08:20am is lethal.

Abe was offered a two year delay by Bach in 2019, taking us to 2022.

His heart wanted a one-year delay, his stomach wanted a two-year delay.

Beyond farcical now.

Wasn't the Olympics glory suppose to represent the virility and powerful comeback of the repair of Fukushima after the major Tsunami?