tokyo 2020 olympics

Japan's Olympic security balancing act leaves few satisfied

30 Comments
By FOSTER KLUG and MARI YAMAGUCHI

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Sorry for the… uh, er… ‘inconveniences’, small business owners (remembering @robert maes).

From the article:

*- “Hiroshi Kato, an instructor, worries he’ll lose more business than during the pandemic, ordered to move where he works across from the Olympics stadium from Jul 1 - Sep. 19, for unspecified security reasons.’*

The BIG fish have basically eaten ALL the small fish in the interest of IOCLDPJOC selfish “GREED”.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Here we go, as usual japan blaming everyone but themselves

17 ( +20 / -3 )

The government should have made sure that any media revenue will go to offset the cost of the games and compensate business that have to close or curtail business due to the games.

It is untrue that the government did not have the means to make this happen.

The IOC may be the only body with the authority to cancel the games, but the government could agree to let the games proceed while shutting down the airports.

Japan would have the greatest medal haul in Olympic history.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

As Thomas said….

Japan's massive security apparatus has raised complaints that the nation, during the weeks of the Games, will look more like authoritarian North Korea or China than one of the world’s most powerful, vibrant democracies. Where did they get that from?, all 3 are one party states.

As for massive security apparatus, that bubble has burst already.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Japan's massive security apparatus has raised complaints that the nation, during the weeks of the Games, will look more like authoritarian North Korea or China than one of the world’s most powerful, vibrant democracies.

One, the fact you have the one party rule LDP ignoring the will of the overwhelming proportion of the public and medical experts and pushing forward an Olympics that will benefit only very few and have a heavy cost too many is not very vibrantly democratic.

Two, in the case of China and NK they would probably do the security, surveillance and IT part much more competently than Japan.

Photos and social media posts show foreigners linked to the Games breaking mask rules and drinking in public, smoking in airports — even, if the bios are accurate, posting on dating apps.

This is just the beginning.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Just imagine almost all of these headaches could've been avoided had they just delayed this one more year or even half a year.

14 ( +17 / -3 )

I actually do not care anymore. Reading as little about the olympics as possible.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

“We will control every entry and exit. We will have a system that will not allow anyone to go outside freely,” Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said.

Did the Ugandan come back to Izumisano yet?

16 ( +20 / -4 )

The other night I was out in an izakaya and met 2 Americans. I assumed they were US military. I’m former military so I approached them to say “thank you for your service”… they weren’t former military, they were olympic staff who had gotten bored and escaped their accommodation. They assured me they had been vaccinated but I told them that wasn’t the point… that this exact situation was what the local residents were concerned about. Our freedoms are being taken away and valuable resources are being directed towards these games that a majority of the population are against. They blew me off and continued drinking.

20 ( +24 / -4 )

Yes, let them eating out in Ginza as a little thank you and then close and cancel the damned whole thing or are you really crazy, insisting in continuing?

4 ( +8 / -4 )

There’s plenty of imbalance happening now!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Thanks China for your Coronavirus gift. And for your continuing consumption of threatened wildlife. I hope you get what you deserve. Meanwhile, just cancel the superspreader Olympics and get vaccinating.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

Get vaccinating

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

The "games" havent even started and all the promises that the JOIC, IOC, and Japanese government have made are all BS.

Suga... with any luck at all, your days are numbered!

10 ( +13 / -3 )

There's also lingering resentment over a widespread sentiment that Japan is facing this balancing act because the International Olympic Committee needs to have the Games happen, regardless of the state of the virus, to get the billions of dollars in media revenue critical to its survival.

“The Olympics are held as an IOC business. Not only the Japanese people, but others around the world, were turned off by the Olympics after all of us saw the true nature of the Olympics and the IOC through the pandemic,” mountaineer Ken Noguchi told the online edition of the Nikkan Gendai newspaper.

Senior sports editors at major international media companies, meanwhile, have asked organizers to “reconsider some measures that go beyond what is necessary to keep participants and residents safe,” saying they “show a disregard for the personal privacy and technological security of our colleagues.”

If these games are going to unravel, these three paragraphs indicate where the anger and resentment will focus.

Before social media get there claws into the fray.

Imagine a lifetimes achievement, standing aloft on that podium, only have to place your own Gold medal.

Then no cheers, no only canned clapping.

No celebrations, just a escort under guard back to your cell.

For a beer on the sad table set for one.

You think for one moment that something smelly won't hit the fan.

Send Bach and the IOC back to when they crawled out of.

Penniless !!!!! .

5 ( +8 / -3 )

@Ejal73: Should have gone to the nearby koban and reported them.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Eating and drinking outside their hotels knew this was coming from a mile away. haha

0 ( +3 / -3 )

"During a once-in-a-century pandemic".

Glad that the article writer knows this.

"forcing the team and seven city officials and drivers who had close contact with them to self-isolate"

Ah, so the 'no contract with locals" constantly touted before the start of the arrivals was, as we all suspected, a total myth

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Typifies the arrogance of Media Conglomerates: Senior sports editors at major international media companies, meanwhile, have asked organizers to “reconsider some measures that go beyond what is necessary to keep participants and residents safe,” saying they “show a disregard for the personal privacy and technological security of our colleagues.”

And. Yesterday, an Olympian, her sister and son on the train. One with a chin diaper. Going for a ride.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

introducing fast-spreading coronavirus

Introducing? It's already everywhere in Japan

4 ( +6 / -2 )

What frightens me is that these variants will sooner or later come knocking on the door of elder venerable members of my family, that have been vaccinated.

These games could present an opportunity for such an event.

And I will not stop at holding the IOC responsible if such an scenario occurs.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

The whole article is just filled with xenophobia. Poor Uganda again creeps into this article yet zero mention that the vast majority of olympic related people found infected so far have been the locals rather than the dreaded foreigners. This virus hasn't any bias based on nationality, social or economic status,

4 ( +7 / -3 )

I won't buy from Olympic sponsors for the rest of my life. Decided it is all I can do, and probably most effective.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I thought there was supposed to be consequences for those who broke the pledge. Well IOC and Japan. Time to start working. Protect the locals, less omotenashi.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

This will turn out a lot worse for Japan than people think. The "bubble" is way too big to secure. 200,000 Japanese cleaners, cooks and other kinds of workers will be travelling in and out of the bubble every day. Vaccination will make many people feel bulletproof but vaccination does not prevent spread.

Koike or whoever is responsible enough needs to lock Tokyo down right now and send all these 85,000 people home. Already the spread from the visitors will have set off contagion which will take months to reverse.

The honor system "imposed" on visitors may work if all the visitors were responsible Japanese. At least 5,000 of these visitors will be far from responsible and honorable though. It actually only takes about a 100 of them to set off catastrophic exponential fresh spread in a city with the population density of Tokyo. This has presumably already happened. Because there is literally no testing or contact tracing the results of this will not be known for about a week.

The deaths will start increasing in about a month and I can easily see them topping 1000 a day for most of September.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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