Only Tokyo could pull off these Games? Not everyone agrees

Two years earlier, “No Problem”. This Olympics, we won’t know until ‘They’ tell us they did.

You have to have lived here a long time to realize how the world can be fulled by so called efficiency...not

Most of all, it has highlighted some embarrassing things: that much of Japan doesn't want the Games, that the nation's vaccine rollout was late and is only now expanding, and that many suspect the Games are being forced on the country because the International Olympic Committee needs the billions in media revenue.

None of these premises are true. All polls indicated that most Japanese supported holding or postponing the Games. Japan has been vaccinating over a million a day since June 9; the rollout is not only now expanding. And Japan sought to hold the Games after they could not be held in 2020; the Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article. Might not be what people want to hear, but …

The gestures and cosmetic appearances mask a profound yet preventable tragedy, the result of incompetence, arrogance and lack of political will.

Pointing to apparent efficiency is forest for the trees: one pundit noted that after all the well-organized, rigorous airport checks, he and the others were jammed into a small crowded bus. To cite one of a multitude of examples.

then a more authoritarian and high-tech China or Singapore would probably be able to control COVID

Well, I guess we'll see what China does 6 months from now at the Winter Games. It'll be interesting to see the difference.

None of these premises are true. All polls indicated that most Japanese supported holding or postponing the Games. Japan has been vaccinating over a million a day since June 9; the rollout is not only now expanding. And Japan sought to hold the Games after they could not be held in 2020; the Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article. Might not be what people want to hear, but

Actually, none of THESE premises are true.

None of these premises are true. All polls indicated that most Japanese supported holding or postponing the Games. Japan has been vaccinating over a million a day since June 9; the rollout is not only now expanding. And Japan sought to hold the Games after they could not be held in 2020; the Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article. Might not be what people want to hear, but

Actually, none of THESE premises are true.

Only Tokyo could pull off these Games? 

Maybe yes, but only on a negative sense, only its very irresponsible government could have pushed the games against the recommendation of experts and the wishes of the population, all while being surrounded by endless scandals of sexism, discrimination, corruption, etc. It has required the complicity of most of the media and the conformism (and money) from most of the population.

Nobody else in the Western world would be foolish enough to try.

GdTokyoToday  07:21 am JST

None of these premises are true. All polls indicated that most Japanese supported holding or postponing the Games. Japan has been vaccinating over a million a day since June 9; the rollout is not only now expanding. And Japan sought to hold the Games after they could not be held in 2020; the Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article. Might not be what people want to hear, but

Actually, none of THESE premises are true.

i provided my sources. Where are yours?

the recommendation of experts 

Sure,

Same experts who said in the beginning of the pandemic, masks are not necessary.

Same experts who told us that the Olympics are at a lower risk, than the japanese peoples vaccations.

Same experts who told to Jill Biden, that there is no risk for her to go to the Olympics.

Same experts who took a photo with Suga during the opening preparation for the Olympics.

To be continued....

The Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article. 

Oh, ..... Well that settles everything. The 2nd least credible person on the issue claims that the Games were not foisted upon us by an unelected quasi-state during a global pandemic, likely at the "suggestion" of the least credible person on the issue.

I don't do free internet research. Its called Google. Give it a try. And scientific poll after poll says the Japanese public is overwhelmingly against holding the games as is virtually every public health scientist.

Well, I guess we'll see what China does 6 months from now at the Winter Games. It'll be interesting to see the difference.

As much as I'm ambivalent towards China, I actually hope they make a roaring success of them. It will be a valuable lesson to the Japanese politicians who managed to project supreme arrogance and indifference to the will of their constituents, while simultaneously capitulating to the IOC like a whipped dog.

“Olympics visitors here have already carried fast-spreading variants of the virus into a nation that is only approaching 25% fully vaccinated.”

Written like this it looks like the variants were not already here, and that is simply not true at all!

This is not journalism, it’s just feeding the irrational fear if the foreigners.

GdTokyoToday  07:37 am JST

The Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article. 

Oh, ..... Well that settles everything. The 2nd least credible person on the issue claims that the Games were not foisted upon us by an unelected quasi-state during a global pandemic, likely at the "suggestion" of the least credible person on the issue.

So … no source. That’s what I expected.

Guess we will have to wait until after the games to see the full effect and if any variants are created.

But it has been slightly uplifting to see the events going ahead ( and I was very cynical).

GdTokyoToday  07:39 am JST

I don't do free internet research. Its called Google. Give it a try. And scientific poll after poll says the Japanese public is overwhelmingly against holding the games as is virtually every public health scientist.

Virtually ever poll gave the public three choices: hold, postpone, cancel. Hold + Postpone always exceeded Cancel. But Postpone + Cancel always exceeded Hold. However, Postpone doesn’t imply that Japanese don’t want the Games. It implies that they want the Games next year instead of this year.

@zichi “Data collected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shows that as of 23 July, a total of 100 Covid cases had been recorded since 1 July linked to the Olympics”.

Exactly, out of over 30,000 systematically tested on arrival and then every day, and isolated when positive or even sent back. That’s less than 4 cases per day, versus 3,000-5,000 per day in the country (despite wildly undertesting and thus certainly having thousands of positives going around happily). So writing that Olympics are bringing variants and contributing the spread is ridiculous.

Olympics became too big to cancel. Make it smaller.

Only about 29 million are fully vaccinated or 23.3% of the population. Tokyo is under an SOE. In Tokyo, Covid cases are increasing.

The claim was that the nation's vaccine rollout is only now expanding. These numbers don’t address that.

Sure,

Same experts who said in the beginning of the pandemic, masks are not necessary.

Yes, because, contrary to people that just like to blindly follow religious-like figures and never change their attitudes no matter how much evidence they are wrong is presented, science changes their conclusion according to new information in order to progress, advance.

It must be hard to understand for people that are used to just believe and never progress, but science is about the opposite, that is what makes it so reliable, instead of keeping a wrong approach for false pride it accepts valid evidence to better their conclusions. Anti-scientific people on the other hand just want to pretend scientists have access to time machines and should have gotten information from the future, no matter how irrational this is.

Same experts who told to Jill Biden, that there is no risk for her to go to the Olympics.

Of course, because using a lot of resources to protect one single person makes it terribly easy to reduce the risk to the same practical level of not traveling, for this person.

Reducing the risk the same for the population of a whole city or country? not so easy, which is exactly why the experts are against the games, because they are not worried about protecting one single person but the whole public health.

Same experts who took a photo with Suga during the opening preparation for the Olympics.

Which of the experts that have repeatedly expressed their disapproval with the games was in that picture? it is not like you just pulled this out of thin air without even knowing this very important detail, right?

The claim was that the nation's vaccine rollout is only now expanding. 

And that's contentious. This is the message I get when I log into the reservation system:

現在、選択可能な会場はありません。

今後の予約開始日などについては、自治体からのお知らせをご確認ください。

In think there has been obvious contemptful behavior towards the public. One example is backing up traffic for almost an hour in the Aqualine heading towards Tokyo, on purpose. The toll gate after the tunnel was not for ETC only, the other one was closed, and therefore causing a huge back-up for everyone. Whether you were going to Yokohama, Kawasaki or Tokyo, you would be backed-up by this obvious traffic-jamming tactic. Then they blocked off the Rainbow bridge periodically. Terrible treatment.

I will judge by the number of people who want to visit Japan in near future after the Olympic and the pandemic. Does it increase or decrease? Votes with their feet will tell. After all, one of the main goal of Tokyo Olympic 2020 is to make Japan a long term world's favorite destination of tourism.

I will judge by the number of people who want to visit Japan in near future after the Olympic and the pandemic. Does it increase or decrease? Votes with their feet will tell. After all, one of the main goal of Tokyo Olympic 2020 is to make Japan a long term world's favorite destination of tourism.

I'll be doing my part by advising anyone who asks to come to Japan by all means, but avoid Tokyo. Go to Kyoto, sure, go to Shizuoka (great place), go to Okinawa, go to Hokkaido.

I live in Tokyo and I used to think it was a fantastic place. Now I'm quite relieved that I'll be out of here in the next few years.

Virtually ever poll gave the public three choices: hold, postpone, cancel. Hold + Postpone always exceeded Cancel. But Postpone + Cancel always exceeded Hold. However, Postpone doesn’t imply that Japanese don’t want the Games. It implies that they want the Games next year instead of this year.

So? The ones who favored postponement aren’t getting the games next year, they are getting them this year. So they and the ones favoring cancellation are both opposed to the games that are actually happening.

I am glad that in these challenging times with the Covid-19 pandemic that Japan and the IOC let the games be played. Good luck!

divindaToday  07:15 am JST

then a more authoritarian and high-tech China or Singapore would probably be able to control COVID

Well, I guess we'll see what China does 6 months from now at the Winter Games. It'll be interesting to see the difference.

　There'll be no problem holding the winter olympics (refuse to capitalise them fro herein), I'm guessing, China not even pretending to be an 'vibrant, open democracy' and all.

t

“No country should hold an Olympics during a pandemic to start with. And if you absolutely must, then a more authoritarian and high-tech China or Singapore would probably be able to control COVID better,” said Koichi Nakano, a politics professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

unbelievable comment! japan is doing a great job so far.

Both Suga, Koike, can sense the political capital if they can pull off a successful Tokyo Games in a election year.

The only elephant in the room is the pandemic,

However close to half the J population tuned in to watch/view the first day of competition. 69 plus million.

Olympic fever finally hits Japan on first day of competition at Tokyo 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/24/olympic-fever-finally-hits-japan-on-first-day-of-competition-at-tokyo-2020

Suga has gambled the nations health system, on containing Covid.

However the vaccination program, or the lack of a comprehensive/efficient roll out could well come back to rain on his political parade

Which of the experts that have repeatedly expressed their disapproval with the games was in that picture?

This WHO idiot Tedros...it was here on JT.

I can not clearly remember the day....

rainydayToday  08:18 am JST

So they and the ones favoring cancellation are both opposed to the games that are actually happening.

Exactly. We can contort the statistics to make that argument.

Any wealthy nation with a government prepared to ignore the wishes of the majority of her citizens, and not listen to the pleas of medical experts, could hold an olympics in the middle of a pandemic.

Sadly, this is nothing to be proud of.

It’s not so much the pulling off the games as it is the poor pre and post games decisions that have been made and consequences that will become of them.

scientists have access to time machines and should have gotten information from the future

You said that also before to another poster her, but I didn't comment that, because this is such a "strange" comment.

And when I told you before, that your experts can not be

Covid Experts because they don’t have experience with this new Virus, YOU told me that they have enough experience from past pandemics and infections.

If so, why did they say masks are not necessary­?

Each elementary school kid knows that masks are the basic prevention against infections.

You don’t need a time machine for that!

If your experts really need a time machine for that, than I really recommend that they upgrade their knowlege.

 And if you absolutely must, then a more authoritarian and high-tech China or Singapore would probably be able to control COVID better,

Pardon me if we live in a democracy where people have actual rights. Authoritarian regimes are good at lying and using the lies to suppress their population.

I am not a fan of the vaccination drive here, but agree that only Tokyo could have pulled off the games in such circumstances!!!

Any wealthy nation with a government prepared to ignore the wishes of the majority of her citizens, and not listen to the pleas of medical experts, could hold an olympics in the middle of a pandemic.

One benefit the LDP has is that there is no real opposition to them. A ruling party with an opposition worthy of respect breathing down their necks may have acted differently.

Tokyo will be experiencing Tropical condition as early as Tuesday

it reminds me of the past War II because Japan entered into the war whithout considering the risk of the degeat instead, going into it with upsurge of feeling. The government think that people will forget about the risk of Cov-19 because of euphoria.

If "high-tech efficiency" were an Olympic event, Japan takes home the bronze. 

Lining up chairs and cones however, triple-gold-platinum!

gintonicToday  08:45 am JST

... lying Suga,s interview soundbite is your "source"? Allright then.

What source do you have to indicate that Suga was lying when he stated, "We raised our hands and we sought the Olympics because we wanted to do it. If they (the IOC) tried to force something on me, I'd kick it right back at them."

If that is not a true statement, finding a source to refute it should be pretty easy.

How accurate the first days media viewing figures are is anybody's guess.

Little doubt though Suga san has thrown caution to the wind. Suga has made sure his face/profile is synonymous with the J Gold medalists success, taking time out to congratulate them personally.

American are filling up stadium with 10 of thousand unvaccinated spectators,having superspreaders event daily,Japan covid count is minor compared to the US covid count,Tokyo count is lower than than combine US state that have the same population as Tokyo

ZorotoToday  09:09 am JST

We raised our hands and we sought the Olympics because we wanted to do it. If they (the IOC) tried to force something on me, I'd kick it right back at them.

You believe they literally raised their hands? And that they would "kick" something back?

Not sure what you are asking for.

The claim is that the Games were forced on Japan by the IOC. That would be an easy claim to provide sources for, if it's true.

However, to put this to bed, what we have learned over the year is that the IOC and the Japanese government both have their own self interests in holding these Games, and to claim that one has been fully subjected to the other is just outright false.

Totally agree. The Japanese people have a lot of pride and determination. That's why Tokyo, Japan was selected to host the Olympics and will not let the Wuhan Virus set them back.

This WHO idiot Tedros...it was here on JT.

So instead of any of the multiple experts that have explicitly said that the games should not be held, now you retract yourself to say it was one that have done so? why use information you know is not true to support your views? how about any of the many local experts that have said the games are an unnecessary risk? how many of them were in the opening ceremony? none?

You said that also before to another poster her, but I didn't comment that, because this is such a "strange" comment.

And when I told you before, that your experts can not be

Covid Experts because they don’t have experience with this new Virus, YOU told me that they have enough experience from past pandemics and infections.

That makes absolutely no sense, one thing is to be an expert on a field that absolutely have to do with the pandemic, like virology, epidemiology, public health, etc. The knowledge and expertise is definitely something that can be used to study and conclude things even from new diseases.

Another completely different thing is to pretend data from the future, that obviously nobody had access to, should have been used to give recommendations that were contrary to the available evidence at the time.

Those experts that you mistakenly thought had nothing to do with the pandemic were precisely the ones that originated the information that modified the recommendations, that knew what was necessary to study, that recognized signs of something in the epidemiological data that required a closer look.

If so, why did they say masks are not necessary­?

Because all available information at that moment said they were not, until more data was collected and the evidence pointed to a different direction, thanks to the effort of those experts that you unreasonably think are useless in the fight of the pandemic. According to you we should be still rejecting very useful masks just because you can't understand what expertise means.

Each elementary school kid knows that masks are the basic prevention against infections.

False, that is common knowledge NOW, but two years ago masks were thought to be useful to prevent spreading when in close prolonged contact with symptomatic people, the classic example being in hospitals, where masks were never contraindicated. Even in Japan where masks were common those were used by people with symptoms or those treating them in hospitals, but not by everybody in the streets, including people that have no symptoms, that is a completely new measure born from findings of last year.

Thinking this very specific recommendation should have been made in the absence of these finding actually require thinking the experts could know things from the future, which is irrational.

I will only say this,

NO NATION is IGNORANT enough to put it's own people at such a high risk.

Japan had a perverse desire to be liked by whole world and hence this inferior complex that “Only in Japan”…..

“Look at the Photo” @9:02am. - Perhaps the 5 Japanese “Olympics Kill the Poor” banner-carriers should get at least an IOCJOC “Honorable Mention” or “Participation Certificate” for the diligent & tenacious marathon they’ve been running since as far back as Feb 2021? -

The 2nd part of the headline got that right: “Not everyone agrees”. Surely they, @****Hakman 9:02am, are also Japanese citizens, and can’t be criticized for addressing what there see as hypocrisy & proclaiming their dissatisfaction with Japan & it’s government?

And, **@*Hakman 9:02am, you can’t say: “Go home!” to people you don’t agree with: They live, work and pay taxes here, too!*

*- “the persistent five elderly protesters with the “Olympics Kill the Poor” banner and who have been at it steadily since their ‘Picture of the Day’ from Feb 13, ‘21. It’s “no longer available” but we can still see them here:*

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1104239/japan-set-to-rollout-covid-19-vaccines -

A vibrant, open democracy with deep pockets, the host nation is known for its diligent execution of detail-laden, large-scale projects, its technological advances, its consensus-building and world-class infrastructure

Wow, even as somebody who likes living in Japan this is REALLY a reach. It reads like something a study-abroad student would conclude in their first week here.

Most success Japan has regarding Covid can be attributed to luck, not planning. Unless "not doing anything" is secretly the trick to beating covid. Consequently, I don't think Tokyo is the only place that could pull these games off. In fact, I don't think it is even one of the better choices.

I do however think, it is one of the only places that WOULD pull it off. Any other country that was better prepared for Covid would have cancelled the Olympics ages ago. If the games were going to New Zealand, do you think for a second they would have hesitated to pull the plug on them? No, because they know what a terrible idea they would have been; they likely would have taken the financial burden of an IOC cancellation contract rather than risk lives of both their citizens and the visiting participants. I think the same could be said for any country that handled COVID well.

Only Tokyo can pull off the games?

Yeah right. And the arrogance continues.

These Olympic games have served as an example of how the greed of the 1% prevails over the will of the majority of the people.

In a way, history has repeated itself; the 1968 Gamed in Mexico City opened 10 days following the Tlatelolco Massacre, when the government slaughtered hundreds of students protesting the games, which were seen as coming at the expense of farmers and the working poor.

Japan has ignored the will of its people, stifled free speech, increased surveillance of visitors and imposed a list of restrictions which belie its status as a free democracy.

These games have become no more than an exercise in vainglorious nationalism, and the stated goals of Olympic ideals have long ago fallen by the wayside.

The claim is that the Games were forced on Japan by the IOC. That would be an easy claim to provide sources for, if it's true.

However, to put this to bed, what we have learned over the year is that the IOC and the Japanese government both have their own self interests in holding these Games, and to claim that one has been fully subjected to the other is just outright false.

So? Yeah, the government has been complicit in this disgrace, so what?

Just look at the terms of the Host City contract:

https://gtimg.tokyo2020.org/image/upload/production/rtd40rja1u5m4p7oifej.pdf

This gives the IOC the sole power to decide whether the games go ahead or not. The Japanese and Tokyo governments have no say in it.

Knowing this is where the power lies, and the fact that the IOC has very openly and clearly made its intent to hold the games no matter what (https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210523/p2g/00m/0sp/042000c ), it seems pretty clear that the government has simply chosen the path of least resistance and gone along with whatever the IOC wanted with zero regard for what was actually in the best interests of Tokyo or Japan.

The mere fact that the Host City Contract gives the IOC so much power over the host that resistance by the latter is futile isn't something to be celebrating.

@ Asiaman7

i provided my sources.

Actually, no you did not. The only thing close to providing a source is that :

the Games were not force on the country by the IOC, as clarified by Suga in the July 20 Wall Street Journal article.

That make it singular and do not cover most of your assessment. Moreover no link is provided neither are you giving information about if you actually read the the interview or just sentences taken out of it by other media as the WSJ full access is for subscribers only :

https://www.wsj.com/articles/japanese-leader-yoshihide-suga-says-country-is-safe-for-olympics-11626795099

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-2021-olympics-are-turning-into-a-20-billion-bust-for-japan-11626790720?tesla=y&mod=article_inline

None of the free preview state what you said, so we could guess, you perhaps are making reference to that :

https://japantoday.com/category/politics/japan-pm-denies-ioc-pressure-to-hold-olympics-report

And in that case you seems to forget the importance the context : when Suga talk about "sought" was he talking about when they applied years ago or this year ? The full sentence tend to point in the direction of years ago but without context difficult to know.

Regarding the opposition of Japanese people about hosting these games (Tokyo 2020 in 2021), some links, after the choice question in between games this year or no games at all was never asked so we will not know the choice :

https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-yoshihide-suga-tokyo-sports-asia-coronavirus-pandemic-89db56822027f82ca771a91e63c03107

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57097853

The last article also provide remainder that for months Suga&co were like : we can not cancel only the IOC can. So no wonder "many suspects" the game went ahead just to satisfy IOC greed. After, we can effectively discuss it and focus on the pride's aspect.

Regarding the vaccine. Pfizzer was available from the end of November. Japan reached 1million doses a day on June the 26th thus 6 months later, meaning the only one month ago and since July 16th we went bak under the 1million doses a day. So, you are right the vaccine is "not only now expanding". It expanded pretty recently in the game and is now retracting.

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

You are welcome.

Just to point out the experience of the author in the airport seems to be one of a kind. Unfortunately some had another one :

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14399314

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210719/p2a/00m/0na/026000c

So I agree with the people from the "not everyone agree".

Hats off. City of Tokyo, the national government, the IOC, the Japanese Olympic Committee, and the duty conscious, hardworking, proud people of Japan are leaving no stone unturned to offer a memorable Olympics to all our distinguished athletes privileged to be participating in Tokyo 2020.

75% of the Japanese people are protesting. No one can pull this off.

@Flute  05:37 pm

Thank you. Very thorough!

Tara- they hate it so much that most of the “protesters” are watching. Hmmm….

I only ever intended to watch this Olympics as a couch potato, and for me, they have been very enjoyable.

Be Nice and give support to every people who participate in this Olympic. May God Bless Us.