1-b 開幕前/無観客開催決定で…
　　　　（2021年7月～/ 英字新聞)

1 Tokyo Olympics to bar fans under new COVID-19 emergency

2 Fans to be banned from Olympic events in Tokyo, 3 neighboring prefectur

3 Fans to be banned from Olympic events in Tokyo, 3 neighboring prefecture

4 Disappointment over decision to host Tokyo Olympics without spectators

5 The Olympics are here but at what cost to Japan's reputation?


1-a 開幕前/ コロナウイルス拡大による混乱

1Tokyo Olympics to bar fans under new COVID-19 emergency
(Jul 9, 2021/ the Japantimes)

The Olympic Games will be held without spectators at venues in the capital and surrounding prefectures due to a rise in coronavirus infections, officials said Thursday, after organizers made the unprecedented decision just two weeks ahead of the opening of the event.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Thursday that in Tokyo — where quasi-emergency measures are in place — a state of emergency will take effect Monday and last until Aug. 22.

“New cases in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area have been rising since June,” Suga said. “Stronger measures have become necessary in those areas, but could be lifted early if we see evidence of the positive impact of the vaccine rollout.”

Meanwhile, the state of emergency was extended to mid-August for Okinawa Prefecture. Quasi-emergency measures will be extended for the same period in three of the capital’s neighboring prefectures — Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama — as well as Osaka, but will expire Sunday as planned in Hokkaido, Aichi, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures.

The ongoing state of emergency in Okinawa, as well as quasi-emergency measures in nine prefectures, were slated to expire Sunday.

Dining establishments in Tokyo and Okinawa will be asked to stop serving alcohol and to close by 8 p.m. Attendance at events, which had been limited to 10,000 people, will be capped at 5,000 or 50% of venue capacity — whichever figure is lower — and the events themselves will need to end by 9 p.m.

The policy of barring spectators from venues in Tokyo — along with Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures — was agreed on at a meeting Thursday attended by International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach and representatives of the games organizing committee, the International Paralympic Committee, as well as the Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments.

“It is extremely regrettable that the games will be staged in a very limited manner in the face of the spread of novel coronavirus infections,” said Seiko Hashimoto, president of the organizing committee. “I am very sorry for ticket holders and local residents who were looking forward to the games.”

Limited numbers of spectators will be allowed at venues in Miyagi, Fukushima and Shizuoka prefectures, Hashimoto said.

With the pandemic persisting in Japan and around the world, the promise made repeatedly by organizers and officials — that the Summer Games will signify humanity’s triumph over the virus — appears increasingly optimistic.

Instead, the pandemic has forced organizers to cancel promotional events, reduce spectators and impose numerous restrictions on athletes flying in from countries all over the globe.

“There’s a race between the vaccination of the public and the spread of the delta variant,” Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister leading the country’s virus response, said on Thursday, referring to a deadlier, more transmissible form of the coronavirus. “Until the vaccine rollout makes further progress, it’s crucial that foot traffic is kept low leading up to summer break and the Bon holidays.”

While numbers of new cases are low in most parts of Japan, a resurgence is gaining momentum in large cities and highly populated areas.

COVID-19 measures will be in place until Aug. 22, which is roughly two weeks after the Olympics end and two days before the beginning of the Paralympics.

The Olympics will take place from July 23 to Aug. 8, followed by the Paralympics, which will run from Aug. 24 until Sept. 5.

With the rising numbers of cases in the capital, there is a looming fear that the Tokyo Games could become a massive superspreader event that would overwhelm its hospitals and scatter variants domestically and abroad.

Tokyo reported 896 new cases Thursday, a day after the city logged 920, the highest daily count since mid-May.

The number of hospitalized patients and patients with severe symptoms are increasing in Tokyo, while infections among people living together and coworkers sharing the same office space continue to account for the largest portion of traceable new cases.

“The virus is undoubtedly rebounding in Tokyo,” said Norio Ohmagari, director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine and a top adviser to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

If the current trajectory continues, Ohmagari said the capital could see more than 1,000 cases a day within three weeks, and more than 1,400 as soon as a month from now.

“If foot traffic continues to increase and the delta variant is allowed to spread further, Tokyo could see an explosive increase in new cases,” he said.

As of last Friday, Tokyo had reported 760 cases of the delta variant.

Organizers announced in June that attendance at competitive events during the games would be limited to 10,000 fans or half capacity, but the escalating outbreak in the capital has forced them to change plans.

Meanwhile, virus measures for the Tokyo Games have already begun to fall apart at the seams, as a small but growing list of athletes, coaches and staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the Tokyo Organising Committee announced that two staff at the athletes village tested positive earlier this month after eating dinner in a group of four people, with the other diners being staff and contract workers for the games.

Twelve staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since July 1, the day virus protocols set forth by the organizing committee took effect.

On Sunday, NHK reported that a Serbian athlete had tested positive upon landing at Haneda Airport. The four athletes who had traveled aboard the same flight are being quarantined at a facility near the airport.

The delta variant was detected in two members of the Ugandan national team after their arrival in Japan last month.

While organizers have announced those cases, the Mainichi Shimbun reported in June that at least one member from each of the French, Egyptian, Sri Lankan and Ghanaian delegations had tested positive.

Critics warn that, while the organizing committee’s coronavirus measures might look good on paper, in practice they will fall apart.

The infections emerging among athletes and staff could foretell what is to come during the games.

While efforts have been made to reduce the number of organizers and stakeholders from abroad, tens of thousands of athletes, coaches, staff, journalists and volunteers are expected to travel to Tokyo from around the world and within the country.

The global death toll from COVID-19 reached 4 million on Thursday, even as several countries race to vaccinate their populations faster than the spread of new variants.

Japan has traversed three states of emergency and four waves of the pandemic, each bigger than the last.

Owing to the largely voluntary nature of the central government’s infectious disease measures, the diminishing impact of COVID-19 protocols has been a major concern since the beginning of the pandemic.

Signs of a rebound began to emerge in the capital less than a week after the most recent state of emergency was replaced by quasi-emergency measures on June 21.

New cases of COVID-19 as well as the delta variant and foot traffic in Tokyo have been increasing steadily ever since.

“The situation is becoming increasingly severe,” Tokyo Governer. Yuriko Koike said Thursday. “What’s important now is to employ stronger measures so that we can stop the virus from spreading further, and protect the lives and livelihoods of the capital’s residents.”



2 Fans to be banned from Olympic events in Tokyo, 3 neighboring prefecture
July 9, 2021/Japan Today/ By MARI YAMAGUCHI and STEPHEN WADE

Fans will be banned from Tokyo-area stadiums and arenas when the Olympics begin in two weeks, the city’s governor said Thursday after meeting with organizers of the pandemic-postponed games.

That means the Olympics will be a largely TV-only event, after the Japanese government put the capital under a COVID-19 state of emergency because of rising new infections and the highly contagious delta variant.

The declaration was made by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and the spectator ban was agreed to by Japanese Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, and the metropolitan government of Tokyo.

It was a serious blow for Japanese taxpayers and local organizers of the games, which already had been postponed from 2020 by the coronavirus. Hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket revenue will be lost, and that must be made up by the government. Fans also have endured months of uncertainty about whether the Olympics will go ahead.

“Many people were looking forward to watching the games at the venues, but I would like everyone to fully enjoy watching the games on TV at home,” Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike said after the meeting. “It's gut-wrenching because many people looked forward to watching at the venues.”

Fans from abroad were banned months ago, and the new measures will mean no spectators in stadiums and arenas around Tokyo — both indoor and outdoor venues.

The ban covers Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures — Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba. A smattering of events in outlying areas, like baseball in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima, will allow a limited number of fans.

The state of emergency begins July 12 and runs through Aug 22. The Olympics, which open July 23 and run through Aug 8, fall entirely under the emergency period, while the Paralympics open Aug 24.

“Taking into consideration the impact of the delta strain, and in order to prevent the resurgence of infections from spreading across the country, we need to step up virus prevention measures,” Suga said.

In principle, the July 23 opening ceremony at the new $1.4 billion National Stadium will be without paying fans, although some dignitaries, sponsors, IOC officials and others will be allowed to attend.

“We will have to review the situation about the dignitaries and stakeholders," organizing committee President Seiko Hashimoto said of the opening ceremony.

“No fans was a very difficult decision," she added.

Hashimoto acknowledged some regrets, particularly about the decision coming so late.

“We had no choice but to arrive at the no-spectator decision," she said. “We postponed and postponed, one after another. I have done some soul-searching about that.”

The emergency declaration made for a rude arrival for IOC President Thomas Bach, who landed Thursday in Tokyo for the games. He attended the virtual meeting on fans from his five-star hotel for IOC officials where he was self-isolating for three days.

“What can I say? Finally we are here,” Bach said, sounding upbeat as he opened the late night meeting that ended close to midnight. “I have been longing for this day for more than one year.”

Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the organizing committee, said many sponsors, federation officials and others would be considered to be “organizers” and thus would be allowed to attend venues. He said some might occupy public seating, but he said he did not know “the numerical details.”

Organizers had expected to generate about $800 million in ticket sales. Any shortfall — and it could be almost the entire amount — will have to be made up by Japanese government entities.

Japan is officially spending $15.4 billion on the Olympics, and several government audits say it's much larger. All but $6.7 billion is public money.

Two weeks ago, organizers and the IOC allowed venues to be filled to 50% of capacity, with crowds not to exceed 10,000. The state of emergency forced the late turnaround, which was always an option if infections got worse.

On Thursday, Tokyo reported 896 new cases, up from 673 a week earlier. It’s the 19th straight day that cases have topped the mark set seven days prior. New cases on Wednesday hit 920, the highest total since 1,010 were reported on May 13.

The main focus of the emergency is a request for bars, restaurants and karaoke parlors serving alcohol to close. A ban on serving alcohol is a key step to tone down Olympics-related festivities and keep people from drinking and partying. Tokyo residents are expected to face requests to stay home and watch the games on TV.

“How to stop people enjoying the Olympics from going out for drinks is a main issue,” Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said.

The rise in infections also has forced the Tokyo city government to pull the Olympic torch relay off the streets, allowing it only on remote islands off the capital's coast.

“The infections are in their expansion phase and everyone in this country must firmly understand the seriousness of it,” said Dr. Shigeru Omi, a top government medical adviser.

He urged authorities to take tough measures quickly ahead of the Olympics, with summer vacations approaching.

Omi has repeatedly called for a spectator ban, calling it “abnormal” to stage an Olympics during a pandemic.

A government COVID-19 advisory panel on Wednesday expressed concerns about the resurgence of infections.

“Two-thirds of the infections in the capital region are from Tokyo, and our concern is the spread of the infections to neighboring areas,” said Ryuji Wakita, director-general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The Olympics are pushing ahead against most medical advice, partially because the postponement stalled the IOC’s income flow. It gets almost 75% from selling broadcast rights, and estimates suggest it would lose $3 billion to $4 billion if the Olympics were canceled altogether.

About 11,000 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians are expected to enter Japan, along with tens of thousands of officials, judges, administrators, sponsors, broadcasters and media. The IOC says more than 80% of Olympic Village residents will be vaccinated.

Nationwide, Japan has had about 810,000 cases and nearly 14,900 deaths. Only 15% of Japanese are fully vaccinated, still low compared with 47.4% in the United States and almost 50% in Britain.





3 With broadcasting rights fees secured, IOC no longer cares about spectator numbers at venues
2:37 pm, July 09, 2021/By Kentaro Sugino / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

Now that the decision has been made to hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without spectators in the capital and three neighboring prefectures, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn’t seem so concerned about spectators, because the broadcasting rights fees that account for a large part of its revenue are secured.

The IOC has been keeping a safe distance from the issue of the number of spectators to be allowed at Games venues. In March, when the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games decided not to accept overseas visitors, the IOC issued a statement, saying, “Our Japanese partners and friends did not reach this conclusion lightly.”

In June, it also said it supported the policy set by the Japanese side when the organizing committee decided to cap the number of spectators at 10,000.

“As long as the Games are held, a huge amount of broadcasting rights fees will be generated. Therefore, regardless of whether the Games are held with spectators, or how many would be allowed, the IOC doesn’t have to financially sacrifice itself,” said a senior official of the organizing committee.

According to the IOC’s 2019 financial report, its revenue from 2013 to 2016 totaled $5.7 billion (about ¥630 billion), 73% of which came from broadcasting rights fees.

According to some U.S. media and other sources, the broadcasting rights fees that the IOC contracted with the U.S. television network NBC for the United States market is $4.38 billion (about ¥480 billion) for the four Winter and Summer Games since the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, and $7.65 billion (about ¥840 billion) for the six Winter and Summer Games scheduled to be held from 2022 to 2032.

Last spring, when coronavirus infections began spreading rapidly, the IOC as a Games organizer repeatedly declared that it would not cancel the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Now that the cancellation of the Games is highly likely averted and the broadcasting rights fees are secured, the IOC no longer needs to repeat its stance amid any criticism.

Every time the Japanese side expressed its intention to hold the Games by adjusting the number of spectators, the IOC would become more confident, making more demands.

A source close to the organizers said that the IOC has demanded that “IOC officials and sponsors among other concerned parties be allowed in the audience as a ‘separate category.’” The IOC also demanded the Japanese side cooperate in restoring its reputation by “making the IOC’s efforts more widely known in Japan, such as that it has offered to pay for the venue relocation for marathons and race walking events,” according to the source.

IOC President Thomas Bach has said, “We stand shoulder to shoulder at the side of our Japanese partners and friends.”

However, the organizing committee, which is responsible for the management of the Games, is caught between the policies of the IOC, the government and local governments, as well as public opinion at home and abroad, and is unable to draw and present a complete picture of what the Games will be like even half a month before the opening ceremony.

Sugino is based in Geneva.



4 Disappointment over decision to host Tokyo Olympics without spectators
(July 9, 2021/ the Japantimes)

Ticket holders for the Tokyo Olympics expressed disappointment on Thursday at organizers’ decision to hold competitions in the capital and nearby prefectures without spectators due to a recent spike in COVID-19 infections

“I’m so disappointed,” said 69-year-old Masamichi Tamai, who had tickets for five events, including track and field and tennis. Tamai, who was a spectator at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, added he had been looking forward to experiencing the unique atmosphere of the games again.

“They say we’re at the beginning of the fifth wave, so who knows what will happen?” he said, “In hindsight, they did it all wrong. I think we could have postponed it for another year, but there was nobody who could plan it.”

As Tokyo grapples with a resurgence of infections, the government decided Thursday to put the capital under a fresh state of emergency from Monday to Aug. 22.

Organizers then decided to stage the Olympics, which begin on July 23, without local fans at venues in Tokyo after having already banned spectators from overseas.

Kyoko Ishikawa, who runs an IT company in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward, expressed disappointment at the decision since she finally managed to obtain a ticket for the wrestling competition in the second lottery round.

“It’s such a shame (my plans) were interrupted despite the venue being so close to home,” said the 51-year-old, who has been an Olympics fan since the 1992 Barcelona Games. “There must be something we can do together because it’s the Olympics. I would like to think of a way to support (the athletes) online with people from all over the world.”

Meanwhile, sports ruling bodies expressed their disappointment at the decision of organizers ban spectators from the games, but understood Japan’s need to take drastic action to curb the spread of COVID-19.

World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, said athletes have become used to competing in stadiums that are not packed but that they would have loved to see “noisy fans” in Tokyo.

“This is disappointing for everyone,” World Athletics said in a statement. “For the people of Tokyo and Japan, the chance to see the world’s best athletes competing in the flesh is an opportunity that does not come around very often. We, of course, need to listen to, and abide by, the decisions that individual countries make because this virus is impacting countries and regions differently and they have access to all the information and the science. What all of us in sport must focus on is making brave decisions which are usually tough ones.”

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) said it was expecting a capacity of 5,000 spectators and 2,500 spectators respectively on the two pitches.

“Whilst we of course regret that the current sanitary situation prevents from hosting the games with spectators, we fully understand and support the decision taken by the Japanese authorities and organizers as well as the IOC,” the FIH said.

Husain Al-Musallam, president of swimming’s world governing body FINA, said his organization had hoped to see the arena filled at a capacity not less than 50%.

“But this decision is of course for Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese authorities,” Al-Musallam said. “At the same time, FINA hopes to see spectators attending the games and FINA hopes this can happen by July 23. Athletes will still have engaging ways to interact with their home countries and fans, and FINA is confident that aquatics athletes will still provide a great competition for the world to watch from their own homes.”

The move to bar spectators marked a sharp turnaround from as recently as last week, when officials were still insisting they could organize the games safely with fans in attendance. Foreign spectators had already been excluded from the games, which were postponed by a year.

Germany’s athletes’ association Athleten Deutschland said the organizers’ decision was “both reasonable and appropriate” in view of the pandemic.

“The Olympics must not accelerate the infection rates nationally, nor must they become a global superspreader event,” it said. “Generally, the organizers must spare no costs and efforts as part of their duty of care to reduce the risk of infection for those involved by all means and measures. This also applies to hygiene and safety rules.”




5The Olympics are here but at what cost to Japan's reputation?
(Juy 13, 2021 Nikkei, Asia)

The Olympics are here but at what cost to Japan's reputation?
Tokyo has overplayed its cultural exceptionalism hand from the start


Dr. Nancy Snow is Pax Mundi (World Peace) Professor of Public Diplomacy at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.

At this point, there seems to be no reversing the arrival to Tokyo of tens of thousands associated with the Olympics and Paralympics. All spectators are now banned, creating yet another level of access absurdity at the prospect of broadcast media showcasing empty stadiums and arenas but for the VIPs and sponsors in attendance to cheer on the athletes.

Homegrown protesters have been heard but largely ignored. Even the present emperor's words of worry about the spread of the coronavirus during the Olympics received the government brushoff, ignoring the important diplomatic role that the Imperial family plays in representing Japan's nation brand to the world.

Japan is finally making up for precious lost time with the vaccination rollout, but the damage has been done in reputation costs. Every conversation I have with my Japan-curious friends revolves around "What's going on with Japan? Why did it take so long to vaccinate its population?"

Their words remind me that Japan's global reputation precedes it. People around the world expect Japan to be exceptional and overly prepared to handle any crisis. It is not living up to its reputation for preparedness.

Why such abject failure? Establishment politicians were too often insulated from a global-minded preparedness that they failed to treat the merging of two global events, the pandemic and the Olympics, beyond their hermetically sealed borders. Instead, Japan chose the homegrown approach, blind consensus, unquestioning compliance, and ignoring criticism at home and abroad. It overemphasized risk communication messages inside the country while underemphasizing crisis communications that involve defending its public reputation.

The Japanese people, weary of risk communication messages on repeat, could hear the echo chambers of "What's going on with Japan?" and wondered why the government was not responding. The government finally listened, but it is showing up late.

Despite a speedy last-lap vaccination push to restore confidence in the games by carrying out inoculations in workplaces and academic communities, only now is the government aware of the media spotlight as it scrambles to save face.

The alleged public aversion to inoculation that was trotted out by the authorities last winter turned out to be a false-flag operation. Public demand for Moderna vaccinations is so high that the government cannot keep up supply and is now warning Japanese companies to call off more application requests.

No matter what happens healthwise at these Olympics, the damage to Japan's reputational and informational security is extensive. Those institutions suffering from credibility slippage include the Suga cabinet, the Japanese Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee that live in a separate twilight zone reality from the rest of us. NBCUniversal must be added to that list, since it is now airing round-the-clock Olympics-fever-like coverage to make sure eyes are delivered to advertisers.

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell crowed about this Olympics being potentially the most profitable for the company. "I lived in London: Everybody was worried about the traffic. And last time it was Zika, and then once the opening ceremony happens, everybody forgets all that and enjoys the 17 days. And I think this is going to be the same thing."

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, pictured in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 7, has crowed about this Olympics being potentially the most profitable for the company. © Getty Images
It's their world. The rest of us just look on as we've been instructed, as couch potatoes.

The rally-round-the-Olympics syndrome has its dissenters who should be promoted for speaking up, instead of maligned. They include chief medical adviser Shigeru Omi and JOC member Kaori Yamaguchi. These two would have been excellent members of an international speakers' bureau regularly addressing the foreign press had the government of Japan bothered to form one.

Instead, we have images of the prime minister showing up at Tokyo's Haneda Airport for a photo-op with a remotely controlled guide robot to assuage fears of more delta variant spreading through the community, a reminder of the lack of credible spokespersons.

Never have I experienced a wealthier industrialized democracy so caught unawares when it had to deal with the double whammy of hosting a Summer Olympics during a pandemic. Part of what went wrong is cultural hubris. Japan has overplayed its cultural exceptionalism hand from the time of the initial outbreak of coronavirus.

Shinzo Abe declared victory over the pandemic within six weeks after declaring the first state of emergency. Suga declared the games an entertaining pause from pandemic fatigue and a sign of global unity. This managed to get in-person buy-in from U.S. first lady Jill Biden, who will lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympics.

The level of cultural exceptionalism we've seen in the last year extends to its perplexing border control measures. Very soon, the world will get snapshots of elite arrivals to Japan while the masses await their turn. This won't be a message of global unity but will reinforce the notion that there are two types of people in the world: those granted access and those denied.

Japan was spared the worst of COVID-19 throughout 2020, and this false sense of security lulled Suga into taking a slumberous approach to the crisis.

A much better strategy would have been to develop a crisis management communications center staffed by globally trained press secretaries and spokespeople who could speak frankly, honestly and swiftly about facts on the ground. It is not too late to set the right example.