tokyo 2020 olympics

Tokyo Olympics will be safe, governor says

30 Comments
By Hiroshi Hiyama and Sara Hussein

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30 Comments
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now that we know there,s no second chance, i believe they will do everything they can to make these games as safe as possible... ( forget about the pessimists and politics ), i believe that Koike Yuriko is genuine and her efforts are real... 120%, not bad... :)

-19 ( +1 / -20 )

Koike will get the job done. She is one of the few politicians who actually cares and works diligently, unlike the rest of the empty suits in Japan.

-19 ( +2 / -21 )

Olympics will be safe.

This is what they were saying until the Canadian athletes pulled out, then everyone else after that, immediately following a similar tone deaf IOC speech. Then with the Olympics facade gone, they could finally report on COVID-19 cases a short time later! That didn't look very good.

The governor is not in charge of who will want to come until such time there is open data and verification. Companies being forced to continue the facade may abandon the prospect as well

"""medical experts have raised concerns that the delay will not be long enough to contain the virus and hold the event safely."""

Not good. If experts saw hope then maybe, but no. Also the IOC offering only $650 million is ridiculous and Tokyo should be looking at its insurance payout options to cancel.

Let's say everyone is on board though, let's say they get the athletes support and companies. Let's say for argument the experts agree it's ok. Now, who is going to go?

Will all nations be able to participate equally? What's the point of an Olympics if nations around the world are still dealing with the virus at different rates of infection? Nations are reeling and any sense of disposable income to spend on a trip is surely wiped out by now? China is going in a dictatorship rampage with HongKong. Neither would be very festive. Protests against CCP would put a further damper on relations. Olympics relies on removing protests. What kind of message is that then? South Korea might be further along but not enough to bolster the games. Further travellers I would expect much much less. Also the IOC can forget Beijing 2022.

So it's already a lemon, simply because the number of people able to travel isn't the same as pre-COVID-19 and China is an all-round albatross.

It's an obvious decision to make given the negative ramifications. If there were positive signs maybe but there aren't.

It would have been fun Japan, really, but it's time to cancel. Take your losses right now before losing even more money.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

It seems to me no one is sure about it, maybe safe maybe not.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Tokyo Olympics will be safe, governor says

Yah, because they won’t be held.

16 ( +17 / -1 )

The idiom that defines stating an absolute/whole is 100%.

To pledge "120-percent" in insincere and disingenuous.

When the pandemic broke and leadership was paramount, Koike, 67 was nowhere to be seen, is that Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike definition of "120-percent effort"?

'All that glisters is not gold'. Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike ipledges and promise are superficial, shallow, lack substance beyond the photo opportunity or obligatory press conference.

Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike is a social policy free zone. Provision for day-care, nursery to challenge Japan low birth rate?.

How does Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike going to create a more strategic policy to ease curbs on economic activity?

How much effort? More or less than 120%?

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Tokyo Olympics will be safe, governor says

They've said Tokyo Olympics will be held in 2020 too.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Well, if a politician says so, then it must be true.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I’m 121% sure she has no idea what she’s talking about and has her eyes on election only.

She was willing to endanger everyone by holding the Marathon in Tokyo heat until the decision was taken away from her, which she then fought against.

She was adamant the virus was insignificant until the Olympics were cancelled this year then did a sudden 180.

committed to holding the event as a "symbol of human triumph" over the virus,

There goes the last gasp of hope from Fukushima residents. I thought the Olympics were supposed to be a showcase to the world of their reconstruction and resilience. I guess not.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

Of course they will, it was planned from the start

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Another hypocrite in politics along with Aso and Abe.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

look at all those thumbs down to my comment... keep them coming :) ... we, as foreigners, can be very pessimistic and critical... nothing new there... but don,t forget about all the hard work and money spent on this, and how special it is for the Japanese people...

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Irresponsible in the extreme to hold the Olympics next year.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Actually, as a medical researcher, my ongoing research ( not yet conclusive), suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is incubating in Africa and Indian continent, becoming of serious concern in about 6-7 months.

Still researching reinfection and virtual mutation.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

It is not wise to forecast an unknown future where lives are at risk for politicial short gains, especially when it is not your field of competency and that you once failed on that topic.

I imagine sheepish attitude will never change although the rest of the world is shouting hard for a change because Olympic games are a world heritage.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It is best to dismiss this ultra-rightist's hyperbole that a 120% effort will go into make 2021"s 2020 summer Olympics perfectly safe. It is now June with a year to go. Today's Asahi Shinbun said that Tokyo has seen over 20 new case of COVID-19. Today thousands of permanent residents are blocked from returning home to Japan because the Japanese government still thinks their home countries are plagued. Of those permanent residents allow to return, only 250 are allowed in per day. It is still too early predict that Koike's "120%" effort will come to anything. There may well be a second wave of the pandemic.

There are also countries like the United States with broken civil services and medical care who will be in no shape to be admitted to the Summer Olympics in 2021.

Bear in end that you cannot say things are better. You have to say the problem is solved. The pandemic is over. Koike's ambitions alone (if at all) can solve the problem.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

How can you do over 100% ?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

How can you do over 100% ?

You can't ! it is stupid ! No seriously. why people do this ?,

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Tokyo Olympics will be safe

They said that last February too

0 ( +2 / -2 )

47 cases in Tokyo today. Kiss the Olympics goodbye folks, the party is over. Also, do u really think dysfunctional USA is gonna get their act together in time?

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Japan has got through the first coronavirus wave better than many countries, with just over 900 deaths out of fewer than 18,000 confirmed infections.

...and don't forget the nearly 1500 excess deaths in March-April.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

More dribble, the olympics ill be safe, yeah right , safe as the house of cars in the rain.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Forget the Olympics. No guranteed antidote, no deal, no matter who says .......................or is saying.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@sf2k, you said it all. Time to walk away. Leave the IOC to clean up its own mess.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Tokyo can try making this lemon into lemonade.

The Olympic venues were for people anyway, sold as needed upgrades to the public realm. I'd be pumping what the venues will do for Tokyo after an Olympics or when they're cancelled. Don't make the Olympics a do or die situation. Rise the city above it. Celebrate the venues! A more active city with life balance. That would be new! A Youtube video for each one and some story with it. Add an anecdote behind the corporate sponsors. Engage engage and educate instead of deflect.

Celebrate an improved city, all without having to wine and dine the IOC or bring in the security squads or inconvenience citizens. How great is that?

Really, Tokyo can make the most of it if they realize it

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Bold faced lies. Lives are literally in peril but muh olympics. Why aren't these people sued to the high heavens????

2 ( +3 / -1 )

And here you have it, people, if there was ever any doubt -- two days in a row of the highest increase since the beginning of May, and the woman playing it down just like she was before the 2020 Games were postponed. You remember how it went from being "fine" one day to her suddenly wearing a tea-cozy over her face and talking about implementing a State of Emergency the next? The difference between those two days was that in the evening between them the Olympics were postponed officially. Here she is again, opening bars and saying it's all good, while the numbers grow. I know for a fact of at least two cases where children with high fevers of 39°C for more than three days have been denied tests and merely told by doctors to stay home, it's likely just a cold, etc. They don't want to test because they don't want the numbers to increase, plain and simple. And now at least one reason is confirmed why.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Tokyo Olympics will be safe, governor says

Yah, because they won’t be held.

exactly

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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