Photo Credit: Associated Press
Summer 2021 is the new date for the Tokyo Olympics, however there are many people objecting to the event, believing it is unsafe due to the pandemic.
Currently, there is an online petition pushing to get the Tokyo Olympics cancelled. The petition has collected over 200,000 signatures since it began on May 5. With the Olympics set to start in less than three months from now, people are still questioning whether or not Tokyo is capable of holding the global event and take proper precaution to protect athletes, coaches, staff, and fans.
This year’s Olympics was originally supposed to occur during Summer 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was cancelled and pushed to this year.
The online campaign is referred to as “Stop Tokyo Olympics.” It was organized by Kenji Utsunomiya, a Japanese lawyer. He is also known for running for Tokyo governor multiple times.
Speaking with news outlet Reuters, Utsunomiya stated, “Japanese people tend to not voice our opinions but there are many people now speaking up. Together with voices from overseas, I hope the Olympics will be cancelled now.” He also went on to say that he has received a lot of positive feedback from the Japanese public, thanking him for his efforts to push back the event.
The petition has a full outline stating the organizations that are agreeing on the topic, statements describing how the Olympics can not be held safely, and instead is a big risk to the Japanese community, athletes, healthcare workers, officials and its visitors.
Organizations siding with the continuation of the Olympics include the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, Japanese Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“With the circumstances that we are under, it is certainly unlikely that the Tokyo Olympics could be held safely. If the games are pursued, the Olympics would be denying their very own purpose of “celebrating peace,” stated Utsunomiya in the petition.
Japan is in no shape to host such a huge event at this time. They are currently battling a fourth wave of the pandemic and struggling with vaccination production. Recently, Kajiyama Hiroshi, the Minister of Economy announced that the Japanese government is seeking to extend states of emergency in Tokyo, and three other areas until the end of May. Multiple opinion polls online have also concluded that the majority of the Japanese public are opposed to hosting the Olympics this year.
However, Olympic game organizers are pushing to make it happen, believing that it will be a symbol of a global triumph over the COVID-19 pandemic and participants will be under extreme virus protocols.
