tokyo 2020 olympics

The Tokyo Olympic Games: Will they happen?

18 Comments

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed until the summer of 2021, but will it be safe by then? Read on for the latest news from the Japanese government.

Much to the surprise of millions of people around the world, even the Olympics -- arguably the most important global sporting event -- were not impervious to the coronavirus.

Despite the best efforts of officials from Tokyo, which was awarded the honor of being the 2020 host city, the decision was made last March to postpone the Games one whole year to best protect the athletes, residents, and fans from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it was a sobering example of just how difficult the times were that a tradition as well-regarded as the Summer Olympic Games was canceled, officials believed that a full year of cooperation and preparations could allow them to build a safe and responsible version of the Games.

As the calendar continues to inch closer to the new planned 2021 Olympic starting date of July 23, and the question as to whether or not it is responsible to host the Games at all is debated in the media and behind closed doors, spectators and travel aficionados are beginning to make travel arrangements.

Read on to find out all the latest about which way that conversation is currently trending, what the primary factors are, and when we might know for sure. If you are planning to visit Tokyo for the Games, then check here for more information about visa requirements for Japan.

Planning to move forward with the Olympics

Despite a one-year postponement and facing their fair share of controversy, the current line that Japanese governmental and Olympic planning committee officials are taking is that the Games will go on as scheduled in late July and early August.

There are a few primary reasons for this stance. The first one is most certainly economics. Hosting the Olympics is not something that can be planned flippantly. The undertaking is enormous, even for a city like Tokyo that has previously hosted the Games.

Besides all of the planning and preparations that need to be made to convince the International Olympic Committee that they deserve to play host, a city must then ensure that it has the requisite infrastructure (hotels, stadiums, and other venues) to provide its guests with a top-notch experience.

In Tokyo’s case, this included constructing a new Olympic stadium, which has experienced numerous issues, as well as other large-scale projects. The best way to justify these costs is through the immediate recouping of funds through holding the Olympic Games at full capacity. Without those events, the city of Tokyo and Japan at large will feel these losses moving forward.

The estimated revenue generated from the Olympics is around 19 trillion yen. A loss of that size would be a devastating blow to any economy, even one as strong as the Japanese.

Another reason that officials are pushing forwards is that the ability to host an event as large as the Olympics would be an excellent litmus test of the world’s health considering how unlikely international events of that scale appear.

Herculean vaccination efforts would be key to moving forward with the Games, and a successful elevation of Tokyo as a global beacon of hope would perhaps be more positive PR than any previous host city had ever enjoyed.

When will the official decision be made?

There is no firm deadline as to when the powers that be will be deciding whether to cancel or once again postpone the Tokyo Olympics. For now, the assumption is that the Games will happen until further notice.

It is positive news that more vaccination continues to roll out, but that is not the only consideration at hand, especially as not all Japanese citizens are convinced that vaccines are a good idea.

This is yet another hurdle for the IOC and Tokyo Olympic officials to overcome as they work hard to revise traditional practices that athletes are accustomed to enjoying at the Games to not only protect the participants but to appear as proactive as possible to the international community.

What travelers need to know about visas and the Olympics

Travelers from many countries around the world can travel to Japan visa-free. These countries include the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Schengen-Area members, and more.

For citizens of countries who are required to hold a valid visa to enter Japan, officials have designed a new streamlined visa application system that eliminates much of the hassle.

The Japanese tourist eVisa was developed with the Olympics in mind and applicants need only to present a few documents and fill out an application with personal information on the online portal.

The advent of this new eVisa system will make it easier than ever for people to acquire a visa to Japan, meaning that if the Olympics can move forward as the world hopes they can, then citizens from countries from every corner of the globe will be able to join in with the festivities.

Click here for more info on visas.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

18 Comments
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Now we know that there will be no spectators buying tickets, there's not much to argue.

Tokyo Olympics is not gonna happen.

Fans from abroad unlikely for postponed Tokyo Olympics

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Now we know that there will be no spectators buying tickets, there's not much to argue.

Tokyo Olympics is not gonna happen.

Fans from abroad unlikely for postponed Tokyo Olympics

exactly. the mixed messaging here is just beyond ridiculous.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Like tossing a lit match on the pavement at the gasoline stand: “Another reason officials are pushing forwards is an event as large as the Olympics would be an excellent litmus test of the world’s health...” - Sounds like “Let’s jus go ahead and take our chances. We’ve already ‘pocketed’ the money.”

7 ( +7 / -0 )

The Japanese government has got away with demonizing drugs and vaccines for many years, all to get cheap political points. Maybe if this twisted approach ends up causing the games to be cancelled (because of the delayed COVID-19 vaccinations) it would finally force the country enter the 21st century.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

A better choice of term would be “Petri dish”. - “to host an event as large as the Olympics would be an excellent ‘litmus test’... -

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Just personal opinion - I think they will go ahead, and as stated without any overseas spectators - no idea if there will be a capacity limit here in stadia at the time. Come that time, may well not be needed. I also think as long as the big countries DO send a team it will be a huge success, and a much needed event for a global TV audience.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

When will the official decision be made?

There is no firm deadline as to when the powers that be will be deciding whether to cancel or once again postpone the Tokyo Olympics. For now, the assumption is that the Games will happen until further notice.

Stop wasting our money, the taxpayers money. Decide now. Show some responsibility.

Either decision will have it's results and the people will need to accept the responsibility. Either you cancel now and "lose the face" and money invested, or you continue and see infection spike during/after Olympics again.

The estimated revenue generated from the Olympics is around 19 trillion yen

Estimated. Estimated and long before any corona virus situation. Considering how many foreigners will be able to enter Japan, i'd doubt this number.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Robert... Stop wasting tax payers money? Its already been spent. There will be very little in savings by cancelling now only a loss of broadcasting revenue and ticket sales ( limited) We already know the games ARE going ahead. There will be NO foreign "fans", athletes and staff will be tested and monitored. The games will be declared a "huge success" and a "victory" against covid by the Japanese government.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Japanese officials need to develop a science-based roadmap for athletes and fans, so that the seemingly endless speculation on the Games proceeding and fans attending can end.

For example, athletes may participate in the Games as long as they are vaccinated or take other precautions as mandated by the IOC, including, but not limited to, testing, masks, and social distancing when possible.

Fans may attend as long as they are vaccinated or pass a COVID test and temperature check each day they attend events and follow other requirements set forth by the IOC.

Also, consider that the pandemic could effectively be over by July.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The Tokyo Olympic Games: Will they happen?

They will and they should, if only for the athletes who have structured their life around this. For the hotel and and restaurant business.... tough luck, there will be no big tourism wave.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

With the W.H.O. revising their guidance on PCR testing - cycles from 45 (ultra sensitive = vast number of false positives) down to 30 (less sensitive) we've seen a major drop in cases / false positives. In the end we may end up easing into the Olympics after all (with a limited audience but at least the athletes will be able to compete finally). Not the return on investment they were looking for but in the end they still might be able to salvage the actual event.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

With the W.H.O. revising their guidance on PCR testing - cycles from 45 (ultra sensitive = vast number of false positives) down to 30 (less sensitive) we've seen a major drop in cases / false positives. In the end we may end up easing into the Olympics after all (with a limited audience but at least the athletes will be able to compete finally). Not the return on investment they were looking for but in the end they still might be able to salvage the actual event.

Sorry but that explanation has no basis on reality, because Japan has not changed the number of cycles in its protocol, and more importantly because any of the other mechanisms of controlling the reaction make the number of cycles irrelevant for rates of positivity.

The protocol from the NIID in Japan has been validated and is free from systematic false positives.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33642428/

There is no significant amount of false positives in the numbers reported in Japan.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

There is no significant amount of false positives in the numbers reported in Japan.

And that's why you are seeing Japan (with ZERO social distancing during rush hour and the subway, which never shut down btw did not limit their hours either - maybe one line did) not having astronomical false positive cases everywhere like the US. Japan should have been the epicenter of COVID but somehow it is not (something fishy going on here).

If you go to restaurants everyone has their mask off while eating. Are you going to tell me that it's because of social distancing (ZERO social distancing depending on the restaurant) or closing at 8pm? You're not even in Japan are you? Gyms and swimming pools were open in the summertime and will continue to open throughout this year. Bet you didn't know that either. COVID doesn't exist in subways, restaurants, gyms and pools across the entire nation of Japan. It's quite amazing don't you think?

If they lowered the PCR cycles to 10 this entire pandemic would be over and peace would reign over the land once again. Sorry to say but the pressing fear of COVID and need for vaccines would be over.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Good that you can accept that your theory about why the number of cases dropped after the last peak is wrong. The same kind of studies validate the detection tests in every developed nation, there is no realistic possibility that false positives represent any significative percentage of the cases, this has been demonstrated scientifically.

You may want to ignore the pandemic and believe that not detecting cases would make everything go back to normal, including the Olympic games, but that is not true, every single medical and scientific organization in the world say exactly the opposite from what you believe, that testing people so they can be isolated as much as possible is the only way to keep the pandemic well controlled and the number of deaths on a minimum, countries like New Zealand are proof of this.

Japanese experts have said that testing in Japan has been insufficient, maybe with an adequate number of tests (that do not have significative number of false positives) tracing and isolation the Games would already be a sure thing, but since this was not done and the control spotty and unstable there is no security that the games will happen, and in which shape.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Good that you can accept that your theory about why the number of cases dropped after the last peak is wrong.

Maybe not in Japan but everywhere else that follows WHO's guidance. We're at 30 cycles now. Wait until they drop it further and then say it was because of vaccines that allowed the Olympics to take place.

Have you gotten PCR tested yourself? Get it at 45 cycles. But maybe you should tell them to run it at both 45 and 30 and see what happens. We can tweak it to your liking. Positive test = worry, panic and fear (unethical 2 week quarantine for false positives). Negative test = relief and thankfulness. Which do you prefer?

Remember Elon Musk? He got tested positive twice and then negative twice. Same test. Same nurse. These "tests" are incredibly "accurate". You can be infected and cured the same day....truly phenomenal.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Maybe not in Japan but everywhere else that follows WHO's guidance. We're at 30 cycles now. Wait until they drop it further and then say it was because of vaccines that allowed the Olympics to take place

This is widely out of the topic, so I would expect the moderation to act accordingly but you are also wrong in this. The same as when you thought the numbers in Japan depended on false positives.

Developing countries have much better tools than the minimum, which make the number of cycles irrelevant, the same as in Japan, simply by including a negative control any reaction that happens that is not a real positive can be eliminated so it will never be reported as a positive. You are simply believing in something that has been already proved false.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-who-instructions-pcr-guidan/fact-check-who-released-guidance-on-proper-use-of-tests-it-did-not-admit-pcr-tests-showed-inflated-infection-numbers-idUSKBN2A429W

Remember Elon Musk? He got tested positive twice and then negative twice. Same test. Same nurse. These "tests" are incredibly "accurate". You can be infected and cured the same day....truly phenomenal.

No, that is called being on the limit of detection and happens with every kind of test. If you blood sugar levels are just above the normal limits you will get a result of "abnormal elevation" sometimes but not others because the values fluctuate. Having very low viral titers means that the test will not be able to detect the infection reliable only becoming positive erratically, the most important part is that his tests were not even PCR tests (that are very sensitive and less likely to result in this problem) but antigens tests, obviously it is invalid to criticize the PCR tests because problems with the antigen tests.

https://www.newswise.com/factcheck/elon-musk-s-claim-that-covid-testing-is-bogus-is-not-accurate

2 ( +4 / -2 )

“spectators and travel aficionados are beginning to make travel arrangements.”

Sorry, but what are you dreaming at night, do you really believe that anyone of sound mind is making travel arrangements? Maybe some do but I bet none of them will pay her/his travel expenses her/himself.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

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