Tokyo takes most of Olympic torch relay off public roads

So then on the final leg on the final day before the Opening Ceremony, will they be driving the torch up to the stadium gate?

This crescendo will be falling pretty flat.

Every leg of the relay has a large convoy of 7-10 trucks and buses, 3-4 officials' cars and Hi-Ace vans, 3-4 police vehicles, 6 relay managers in grey sports kit, 10-20 security detail in blue sports kit, crowds of police at every corner and road junction, hundreds of security oji-sans lining the road, and of course the large pavilion and torch at the end.

One of the Yokohama events at the Akai Rengakan had more lights than a rock concert, with 30 or more LED panels mounted on portable Roomba machines making patterns on the floor for the 'runner' to go through.

How much does this circus cost?

Perhaps this is also Tokyo’s ‘rapid response’ to the looming threat of further “disruptive” yet comical actions by disgruntled opponents to Tokyo’s Games.

An example was recently detailed as Crime - “****Woman opposed to Tokyo Olympics arrested for spraying liquid on torch bearer” - Jul 6  6am (a middle-aged woman with a child’s water pistol)

- https://japantoday.com/category/crime/woman-opposed-to-tokyo-olympics-arrested-for-spraying-liquid-on-torch-bearer -

The Tokyo metropolitan government said Tuesday it will take the Olympic torch relay off public roads also in the second half of the 15-day leg passing through central districts of the capital due to a resurgence of coronavirus infections.

You think now there is a resurgence of coronavirus infections? Just give it a few more weeks.

The woman with the water pistol got her point across! No just cancel the whole darn thing! Pride comes before the fall….

wanderlustToday 07:27 am JST

How much does this circus cost?

According to this Shukan Bunshun article from April, the 47 prefectures that hosted the torch relay have spent a total of 11.6 billion yen! That's around $106m.

The corporate sponsors are Toyota and Coca Cola. How much they've spent is anyone's guess.

https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/44781

the metropolitan government will organize torch-lighting ceremonies for the runners to connect the flame in such places as parks behind closed doors.

then why even do it?

it’s like that saying, if a tree falls in the Forrest, but no one is there, did it actually fall?

if no one sees the torch being carried, did it actually get run through japan?

and how do you hide a torch carrying event in a park where no one can see it?

hopefully super soaker sales will go up this summer and more old ladies can shoot at this Olympic convoy of calamity as they cruise on by in said closed door parks.

so they are just gonna run it on Japan's vast network of private roads.......the tolls are gonna be horrendous

"Nearly 1,000 Indonesian medical workers have died of COVID-19, including more than a dozen who were already fully inoculated""

Is anyone paying any attention to this? this is BAD NEWS.

What a complete waste of money. They (JGOV) should have knocked the entire thing on it’s head and postponed it until post pandemic.

Good.

Next, I hope the Olympics flops big time.

Why? Didn’t the jgov assure us it was all safe with the worlds best quarantine methods?

the 47 prefectures that hosted the torch relay have spent a total of 11.6 billion yen! That's around $106m.

A hell of a lot of money for a spectacle that was given its current form by the Nazis in 1936. Too bad Leni Riefenstahl isn't around to film this propaganda.

@Mark

"Nearly 1,000 Indonesian medical workers have died of COVID-19, including more than a dozen who were already fully inoculated""

Is anyone paying any attention to this? this is BAD NEWS.

I believe they are but the IOC, JOC, and Japanese government do not care about the citizens or the residents of Japan. They will be ensured the best of care if they fall ill and they will not need to ride the Yamanote Line, subways, Chuo-line, Tokaido line, etc.

It seems the IOC masters believe that some casualties or collateral damage is necessary and acceptable in order to hold the ever so glorious, humanity saving games this year. The fact that they made the participants sign a release of liability to participate is indicative of this. I wonder what the acceptable amount of infections and deaths are considered to be?

Most of us would prefer a delay but the corporate masters (NBC, et. all) will have none of it. The puppets Suga, Koike, and the LDP bow down to their foreign masters and push the games forward even though the majority of Japanese do not want these games held now.

I'm in the UK. Not one person has mentioned the Olympics. No one cares - it's devalued. Such a shame for Japan not to show some cojenes and cancel the whole thing. To me, it just shows it's a money machine - the lack of fans doesn't seem to make a difference. There is less chance I'll watch the Olympics in the future.

Maybe the reason for this is this story which happened last week but only released today

3:00 p.m. Tokyo 2020 announces that two staff working at the Olympic Village tested positive last week. The staff and two other contractors who also work at the village had eaten at the same table. The contractors were determined to have had close contact with the two staffers but later tested negative.

How much does this circus cost?

A lot more than they are letting us know.

Hidden or should I say surprise cost are now coming to light, like the surcharge during the Olympics for those using the Shuto expressway adding ¥1,000 to the already ¥ 900+ bringing a full travel on it to over ¥1,900.

This is supposedly to try and reduce traffic by those coming to Tokyo for the Olympics, but seeing they have cancelled most events, will have reduced spectators or none why are they still going through with this surcharge?

I honestly don't think anyone is really in charge or knows what one side is doing while the other side does something else.

And seeing they are worried about the surge of covid, does it make sense to hike the price of those that commute in to Tokyo and try forcing them into the crowded trains even more. The lack of logic is now fully off the charts and heading to the stratosphere.

Afraid of being sprinkled by something more than water, I see.

Next time it might be Greek fire...

In a related development, the organizing committee said it has decided to ask the general public not to gather along the roadside to watch Olympic marathons and race walk events in Sapporo between Aug 5 and Aug 8, the final day of the games.

Yeah but for ** sake, then what the tax payers will be able to watch? They are just being used to pay for something that they can't be part of anymore. The apathy of the Japanese population is disgraceful, how can they accept that? I don't give a damn about the virus excuses BS anymore. Either people can be part of this as they are paying for it. Or it just must be cancelled. This can't turn into an event to just fill the pocket of IOC and save the face of the Japanese sponsors and politicians.

I don’t get it millions on trains and buses everyday. 15 baseball games almost everyday 5k people each. Wussies!

No problem, that’s exactly how a typical victory over the virus looks like.

3:00 p.m. Tokyo 2020 announces that two staff working at the Olympic Village tested positive last week. The staff and two other contractors who also work at the village had eaten at the same table. The contractors were determined to have had close contact with the two staffers but later tested negative.

I saw a report with a tv screen grab that 12 Olympic staff had tested positive. That does not include the athletes.

Apparently, the "testing" they are talking about is the unreliable antigen tests, which are what they will use for Olympic related visitors at the airports. We all know the problems Japan has had in expanding the PCR testing program, and it would be wrong to assume that the authorities have somehow vastly increased testing capacity for the Olympics. Even if athletes are tested every day as promised (which I do not believe), it won't be PCR tests.

Still telling how they release this story of the two people a week late and it is now after being released getting international coverage. Havent seen the 12 people story yet

The concept or though about stopping the touch runners running through crowded street to stop the spread of the C virus is a good one, but what about stopping office workers travelling on packed local, and tube trains, this daily cramming of comuters into trains twice a day is far worse than people standing in the open. I was watching youtube the other day someone had posted a "walk around Tokyo" vid clip, it was about 20 minutes long, during watching the vid it came quite clear there was almost no social distancing, and it seamed to be life is back to normal.

This is a good idea, to protect torch bearers from attacks by crazies shooting unknown liquids at them.

Please already, stop calling it "The Olympic Games". Its more like a chopped-up limpless decaying, rotting body of an over-aged, over-worked and exploited xxx "entertainer", displayed on the altar of greed as a money-making piece for the Privileged. It had been deteriorating since time before, but never like this smack-in-your-face attitude of self-service that makes you want to through up!