Tokyo’s inhabitants do not want the Olympics anymore. This is what a recent survey conducted by Japanese press agencies Kyodo and Asahi over the past few days says. 80% of people surveyed are against the organization of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics – expected to be held from July 23, 2021 in the Japanese capital.
It is clear the minds of Tokyo inhabitants about the Olympics in their city has dramatically worsened. At the same time as the spread of the virus is escalating in the country. As a matter of fact, the Japanese authorities have been recorded new infection records for days, and the Covid-19 shadow has surged in the peninsula. All the more so as a new strain of coronavirus does not improve the situation. Furthermore, the Prime Minister decreed health emergency in Japan.
Even though organizers confirm they want to keep the event on, Japanese citizens are clearly not on the same page. Interviewed by France Info, an inhabitant says "This is a huge event. But given the current situation, we are worried. For now, each one of us thinks about one's health". Another 30-year-old employee thinks this is an emergency: "I do think we better give it up. Without it the pandemic will do nothing but escalate. A decision should be made now".
Delayed for a year because of the coronavirus epidemic, this new investigation shines a light on the Japanese capital’s inhabitants’ will to see the Olympic Games held in their city. And 51.6% of the 1,030 people surveyed hope they will be delayed again, or simply cancelled. Only 46.3% of them want the 2021 Olympics go on as planned after the first delay has been ordered back in March following the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic.
