“I think we have to hold the games at any cost,” Hashimoto told a news conference Tuesday, according to The Japan Times.
— from the NPR.org article, ‘At Any Cost: Japanese, IOC Officials Insist Olympics Will Happen In 2021’ by Mike Wise, September 2020.
As far as I can tell, the Tokyo Olympics will hold some kind of torch-lighting ceremony on or about July 22, but it will be done in secret. One thing I am sure of, though. I will not be there, to not watch it.
The Games will supposedly start on July 23, but I will not be in the stadium as a spectator. Normally, I feel left out, whenever I fail to attend the Olympics in person, and am forced to view the events on my tiny black-and-white TV. I say, “normally” because I have never attended the Olympics and have never wanted to attend the Olympics in person (except perhaps as an athlete) so it’s entirely normal for me to watch the Olympics in the comfort of my own living room with a cold beer and a bowl of pretzels near at hand.
Attending the Tokyo Olympics would be “abnormal” for a couple of reasons. First off, the Japanese government is not allowing spectators into the stadium. A ‘state of emergency’ has been declared, because Tokyo is seeing a spike in new infections, of the ‘Delta Variant’ type.
With that being the case, the only people who will see the events in-person will be the athletes themselves.
I seriously considered becoming an athlete, so I could watch. But then I found out that the ‘official Olympic guidebook’ is filled with all kinds of annoying recommendations that limit social interactions in the Olympic villages to discourage viral transmission. (This pesky virus can be discouraged, but never stopped completely.) Contestants and staff have to wear a mask unless they are sleeping, eating, drinking, training or competing. Handshakes and hugs are forbidden. And the athletes only go to locations listed in a pre-approved “Activity Plan.” (Hopefully, the shower room is one of those pre-approved locations?)
So I have to ask: what is the point of the Olympics, if you can’t hug one another? Your soccer teammate scores the winning goal, and you can’t hug him? See what I mean by “abnormal”?
Another abnormal thing, is protesters standing around outside the stadium, with banners written in English and Japanese. This looks like a lot more fun, because they don’t have to wear masks, and you can raise your fist.
The International Olympic Committee has outlawed fist-raising among the athletes. They don’t want any political statements made, in the empty stadium.
The protesters seem to be concerned about the Olympics encouraging a spread of the Delta Variant.
This has made the traditional Olympic Torch Relay somewhat risky. Earlier this month, a Japanese protester sprayed one of the relay runners with a squirt gun.
As she squirted the passing torch, she shouted (and I quote):
「オリンピック開催を中止してください！」、「人命を尊重してください！
I’ve already been vaccinated, and I’ve heard the rumors that I’m protected against serious COVID illness, even in foreign countries.
But I’ll be damned if I’m going somewhere to get squirted by a water gun.