For some Fukushima evacuees, Olympics no reason for cheer

Tokyo-Sapporo 2021.

Too right!

The government is overly concerned with image and losing face.

The pandemic that Nocov-19 is causing means the last thing we need to do is to gather in large groups to watch sports...right?

No athletes are going to turn up and planes will stop flying to Tokyo.

Is there anyone in the Japanese government that thinks that maybe we should postpone the Olympics? Look what's going on all over the world events are cancelled or postponed everywhere.

Sucks for Japan, the timing of this. Really bad luck. But hope the authorities will do the right thing, for everyone’s safety.

The Olympic torch relay that begins in Japan this month will start from Fukushima

that is why they opened some areas in Fukushima, not because of safety but at the contrary to lie to the wold saying Japan is safe for OLYMPIC GAME. Listen to people and close the ceremony!

Even if the number of virus cases has peaked in Japan by July, it may rampant in other countries. Would it be sensible to have planes full of athletes and spectators flying in from those countries carrying who knows how many potential disease carriers?

Yes the games are finished for this year, there cannot be any Olympics games. Next year? Who knows what the world situation will be with this virus?? Do we have a workable vaccine or not by then?

Never should have had the Olympics in the first place. The Tohoku region could have used the money and resources that were diverted to Tokyo. If abe didn't have the Olympics he could have concentrated all of his energy on battling this virus but now he has to consider the Olympics in every decision he makes. abenomics at its best.

I said it before... PUSH IT BACK A YEAR! A year delay is better than a full cancellation or chaos created by a pandemic.

I guess the powers that be are hoping for a audience free Olympics to save face and a fortune.

While I agree with many of you, according to the IOC agreement, if Japan fails to hold the games in the calendar year that they are supposed to, then they lose the right to host them. I think that is why there is such a push to try and stage the games.

Now if the IOC are the douches we all know they are, it would not surprise me one bit that they take away the games. Lets hope cooler heads prevail and they allow the games to happen next year.

But Kumamoto questions why the government is cutting subsidies to people while spending over $12 billion on the Games.

THIS!!!!

> The government is overly concerned with image and losing face.

exactly

The pandemic that Nocov-19 is causing means the last thing we need to do is to gather in large groups to watch sports...right?

right.

I'm sure she is an activist who came from another country, which is trying to sabotage Japan's Olympics for years.

Is this a translation misstep?

""There are only five households left in that situation. We are helping them find housing, but it is hard to communicate with them," he said."

Why is it "hard" to communicate with them?

Quite like the revised Olympics rings on the protest sign.

Tokyo-Sapporo 2021.

It seems Japan says Yes but IOC says No.

They end the free housing this month but then no place where to go.. The government spending to much money in Olympics but many some evacuees still suffering .. No place where to live no job no income.. They cannot find job because some of them they suffering mental illness caused of the accident of Fukushima nuclear plant..

The big mistake is they accommodate the evacuees not equally. Futaba and okuma they extended Free housing until next year. It's unfair! They also paid not equally ..

To the government of Japan and tepxo..please be fair to all the evacuees especially tomioka and naraha..

I am NOT defending, only explaining here.

I think the hard to communicate likely means refusing to communicate. My MIL has become a real pain, she hears but doesnt listen, can be very stubborn.

My guess is the 5  still in temporary housing are simply refusing to leave\move based on their own reasons, so it has become "hard" for the govt to communicate

Abe wants the world to see that japan is truly a great nation and virus free! so hide the true cases of corona and forget about the suffering people of Fukushima... he needs to convey an image of Japan in control and all is well in the land of the rising sun...

while they cut subsidies and neglect the most vulnerable...

Abe never cared..most politicians don't.

The olympics should be delayed until next year coz corona is not going away anytime soon!

Its hard to tell what the situation will be like in the summer as far as Covid-19 goes, but I don't think it will be a great time for people all over the world to come together and gather in large groups. All it takes is one person and they'll have to shut down most of the events. Just postpone it until there is a vaccine. They've cancelled the games before, like during War. This feels like a war.

Think about the reconstruction and clean up that could have occurred had all the money for the Olympics and the emperor’s coronation had been spent in Fukushima.

After this ChinaVirus2.0 runs its course and the world attempts to get back to normal, I really hope that the world does NOT forget that this was 100% the Chinese government's doing in the sense that they knew these wet markets breed diseases and yet turned a blind eye to them. This then became the world's problem to deal with and many, many people died.

Even if the number of virus cases has peaked in Japan by July, it may rampant in other countries. 

Good you said even if, without widespread testing nobody will know whether it peaked or not and since it seems increasing pcr testing is not on the agenda here it means it is an impossibility. Even if japan says it has tamed the virus without wudespread testing most countries would doubt the declaration and not risk sending their athletes to japan.

The Abe government should be deeply ashamed for using these people and then further hanging them out to dry.

My take on this is that like Minamata, the fundamental problem is that this was an industrial accident, not a natural disaster. Ultimate responsibility for negligence lies with Tepco, a private company, not the government. Like Minamata, the upper echelons of Japanese society have closed ranks to help the company and deny the victims what they may be due, but the government is merely an enabler and the root cause is still Tepco. The subsidies for relocation mentioned in the story should be being paid by Tepco. Otherwise, it means that other taxpayers like you and me are on the hook for it.

As for Tohoku and the Olympics, it seems like the people of Tohoku themselves have elected a governor willing to along with the "Olympics as rejuvenation" spiel. The vast majority of Tohoku was actually unaffected by the nuclear disaster, and it would be understandable if they want to move on from it. This is not my own opinion, just a comment on human nature.

World Masters Games Kansai 2021 be there.

Fukushima residents need to stop whining

We don't need to cancel the Olympics, just postpone them for six to twelve months until the situation is under control.

Once the Coronavirus is over (and it will be over) people and businesses would naturally want to make up for lost time.

IOC should postpone it. I think the Olympics will lose much more money if they go on as scheduled because nobody will attend. If they postpone it a year, they will likely have a more normal attendance if the coronavirus cools down.

GOJ are a bunch of duplicitous characters! Deceivers at best.

Japan is deliberately keeping the real state of corona virus infections in the country under reported so that they can create the impression that it is safe to have the Olympics as scheduled. Of course what is happening right now in Japan with respect to the virus is important in deciding whether the games go ahead or not but what is equally important is what is happening around the world with corona virus outbreak. If the virus continues to spread ad it I'd doing right now across the globe. It will be in Japan's own interest to have the gamed cancelled or rescheduled. Japan can't welcome hundreds of thousands of athletes, journalists, spectators, national delegations from all over the world. Remember if the games are held, Japan can't ban athletes from countries with had GH infection rates from taking part so it either the games are cancelled for safety reasons or allow hundreds of thousands of visitors in which may cause an explosion of infections in Japan overwhelming the health system here. It's really unfortunate and bad timing, the Olympics is a bad idea right now. We hope common sense will prevail and Japan, IOC and WHO will put public safety first ahead of any financial investment made.

That top sign...English?

You can't just wipe that radiation clean, it's everywhere, in the soil, grass, air... They still want to live there? Why not let them then?

kohakuebutsu: "Ultimate responsibility for negligence lies with Tepco, a private company, not the government."

That was the case until the government stepped in, bought 51% of the company, and then started declaring it "under control" but using their plight to secure the Olympic bid (then doing nothing for them). THAT is the main issue here, and that while Abe pretends it's all good and well and he is "giving" them this trinket to remember the "reconstruction Olympics", there is a side -- the most important -- that is not being shown at all. The government, even if only an enabler, as you suggest, but as in reality they are not limited to, is also to blame for the current situation. TEPCO is to blame for the Fukushima plant and what happened, but after that the government bears nearly all of the responsibility and fault.

July is simply way too soon now. It must either be postponed to 2021 or held as a TV only event, although still loads of risk in that for the athletes. I hope the IOC has the decency and common sense to move it to next year due to these extraordinary circumstances. What alternative universe do they live in?