The Hashtag
With the postponed and widely dreaded Tokyo 2020 Summer Games due to begin in less than two months, frustrations and fears have reached a fever pitch on the Japan side of Twitter. Though it has been well documented at this point that over 70% of the Japanese public does not want the Games to commence, the IOC insists that they must.
To make matters worse, the central Japanese government is following suit; even in the face of a new wave of infections, a dismal vaccine rollout, and an over 350,000-strong petition calling for the Games’ cancellation.
As such, this week saw the rise of a new hashtag, #国民殺してまで五輪したいか , which roughly translates to, “You’ll kill everyone for the Olympics?!” A more localized translation could read as “#Tokyo2020ToOurDeaths,” but the sentiment is clear; while Japan continues to succumb and die to COVID-19, the IOC and Japanese government relentlessly push for spoiled bread and dreadful circuses.
This reaction is the result of a series of denials, blunders and confusion. We will now examine these contributing factors, along with relevant comments from the public.
The Vaccine Fallout
Tokyo, even last year, was adamant about holding the Olympics; one would assume that they would be one of the first, if not the first nation to have a decent vaccine rollout. Considering tourism increases during international sports events, it should have behooved the Japanese government to ensure everyone’s public health beforehand.
Alas, this is not the case. On top of the slow and confusing vaccine rollout, there has also been a series of blunders with the jabs actually made available. Most notably, there was a case of a patient in Nara being injected with saline solution instead of the vaccine; a nurse injecting someone with a previously used needle in Fukuoka; and vaccine injections being drawn from previously used bottles.
The final approval for both the Moderna and AstroZeneca vaccines has been finally been granted by the Japan Health Ministry. Yet, only 3% of Japan has received the vaccination. Inoculations for the elderly are underway, but there is still no telling when everyone else will be given this extremely necessary injection. It doesn’t help that anti-vaxx conspiracy theories are running amok in Japan as well.
The Hard Sell
Still, the Olympic Committee insists that we look at the encroaching Summer Games as a saving grace. Recently, Marukawa Tamayo, the Olympics Minister, claimed that the Olympics “would restore the bonds broken by the pandemic”. The initial, tone-deaf sentiment was questionable enough, but then she continued:
“Regardless of race or national origin, every athlete will have to follow the same rules on the same playing field. After they combine all their efforts to make spectacular performances, they will acknowledge and praise each other accordingly. We’ll experience feelings of forgiveness and joy once more, and people all over the world will see each other in a new light.”
-Marukawa Tomoyo, Olympics Minister
Netizens balked at this response, noting that the organizers seem especially out of touch with the public. In particular, they focused on the likelihood of officials using public transportation; some even mused that such officials must already be vaccinated, though there are no notable sources to this claim.
Nevertheless, the hard sell presses on, with the Tokyo Organizing Committee planning to invite 810,000 schoolchildren to spectate the Games. Many are even practicing the dance for the opening ceremony, despite all other athletic meets being canceled due to the ongoing state of emergency. The dissonance is absolutely shocking. It’s almost as if the Tokyo Metropolis and the Tokyo Olympics exist on two different planes, adhering to different sets of rules.
Public concern notwithstanding, notable Japanese athletes have voiced their concerns as well. Examples include tennis players Nishikori Kei and Naomi Osaka. (Nishikori actually contracted COVID-19 last year, 10 days before the US Open.)
“Ultimately, I would be reluctant to take part if there would be even one case of infection at the games. If you only think about athletes, I think you can do it if you can make a good bubble…[But] what happens if there are 100 cases in the athletes’ village or thousands?”
-Nishikori Kei, tennis player
“For me, I feel like if it’s putting people at risk then there definitely should be a discussion, which I think it is as of right now… At the end of the day I’m just an athlete, and there is a whole pandemic going on. Of course, I want the Olympics to happen, but I think there’s so much important stuff going on, especially the past year.”
-Naomi Osaka, tennis player
It has yet to be revealed whether either of these tennis stars will withdraw from the 2020 Olympics. Indeed, as of yet no athlete has made any such announcement. However, it is well noted that many people, including some of the star athletes the government expects to “make spectacular performances”, are being deeply affected by this mismanagement of everyone’s public health.
Summary
Previously, this author has written two essays about Japan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. One is about how Japan could improve its fate; the other about how the international media misrepresents Japan’s progress based on stereotypes. Now, with the country entering yet another lukewarm state of emergency, and the government attempting to position the upcoming Games as a social saving grace, I’m frankly exasperated.
How, in the face of a rising death toll, can anyone–the Japanese governor, the IOC, and the like, even pretend that we are in the middle of peacetime? Never mind the fact that a seemingly healthy Kyoto man in his 20s died in his home after being turned away from the hospital, despite showing COVID-19 symptoms. Or that the Olympic committee demanded that 500 nurses be dispatched to help with the Tokyo Games, when the medical system is on the verge of collapse, and has been for quite some time?
More than anything, what boggles the mind is seeing greed usurp common sense. Seeing as how the borders are virtually closed to non-resident foreigners, it would make more sense to postpone the Games an extra year, ensuring that all residents have been vaccinated expeditiously. Only then should they re-open the borders so that tourism could return to Japan, and therefore increase revenue. Then it would truly make sense for the likes of Marukawa to claim that the Games could “restore the bonds broken by the pandemic.”
But alas, everyone within Japan’s borders–especially its foreign residents–remain trapped within the gaping maw of the Japanese government’s incompetence and the IOC’s greed. And with the IOC’s ownership of the Games, there is very little chance that the event will be canceled or further postponed. As it stands, when Japanese people ask if the government will “kill everyone for the Olympics” the answer, for the time being, seems to be a “yes”.
