This article totals 4476 words
The torch of the Tokyo Olympics is about to be lit, which was supposed to be the highlight of the world in Tokyo and japan as a whole, but due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic and many other factors, the aura of the Tokyo Olympics will be much tarnished, and if it can no longer flourish, it is a great luck in misfortune.
Photo caption: Tokyo Olympic Torch Relay Ambassador Yashi Taguchi (center) enters the stadium holding a flame on July 9, 2021. (Xinhua News Agency)
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > japan's Olympic dream is difficult to complete</h1>
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Bach said that the Olympic Games are the "most complicated" Olympic Games in history; Japanese public opinion and international media commented that the Olympic Games are the "most messy" Olympic Games in history, and also Japan's biggest "gamble" in the Olympic Games.
It should be said that both the Japanese government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Tokyo Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee have made various meticulous preparations for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the investment in all aspects is sufficient, but the epidemic has worsened and changed, various negative news has broken out one after another, various unexpected situations cannot be avoided, and Japan's dream of the Tokyo Olympic Games for many years is being shattered by a series of unsuccessful and unexpected changes.
The biggest downside is that the COVID-19 pandemic is still worsening, creating many uncertainties. If the epidemic improves, the Tokyo Olympics may still have some turnaround, at least allowing more spectators to enter the venues and opening ceremonies, avoiding complete cold and cold, and partially compensating for the loss of tickets to the Tokyo Olympics.
To this end, the Suga government and the tokyo metropolitan government and other Regional Authorities of the Olympic Games have tried every possible means and taken all possible anti-epidemic measures in the past few days, but the epidemic situation has not improved. After 5 consecutive days of more than 1,000 new confirmed cases and a continuous rise in cases for 30 consecutive days, 727 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Tokyo area on Monday and 1,387 new confirmed cases were reported in the Tokyo area on Tuesday. In places like Hokkaido, new confirmed cases and deaths have also increased.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Japan suffered the fifth wave of the epidemic</h1>
Japanese media reported that "Japan is experiencing a fifth wave of infections" as the number of newly confirmed cases ahead of the opening of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday increased. As of early Monday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across Japan increased by 20,918 cases from the previous week to 842224, a faster growth rate than before. Cases in Osaka Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, and Kanagawa Prefecture have also decreased, but have also increased. As the epidemic continues to worsen, it is unlikely that the epidemic will improve for a period of time before and after the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which also means that the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games will most likely only reduce the number of attendees in all aspects to a minimum, which is actually equivalent to empty spectators.
The Japan Today website reported that "a series of further rises in COVID-19 cases have darkened the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the Tokyo Olympics, and the various measures taken before the Start of the Games to ensure the safety and reliability of the events only look good on paper, but do not perform so well in practice.".
Japan has adopted strict epidemic prevention and control measures for foreign athletes and Olympic villages that come to participate in the competition, but they are not ideal. On Sunday, two South African footballers tested positive for the virus, becoming the first athletes in the Olympic Village to be infected with the new coronavirus. The British Olympic Association confirmed that six athletes and two staff members on the British team have been quarantined following the appearance of a covid-19 infected person on its flight to Japan. According to the Japan Broadcasting Association TELEVISION station reported on the 20th, 9 Ugandan delegation members such as athletes and coaches who participated in boxing, weightlifting and swimming at the Tokyo Olympic Games arrived at Narita Airport on the evening of the 19th, and 1 of them was diagnosed positive during the entry quarantine. Public health experts said Tuesday that the so-called bubble to control COVID-19 infection in the Tokyo Olympic athletes' village had "burst" and threatened to spread the infection to ordinary people in Japan.
Photo caption: On July 19, Lang Ping, head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team, arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Meng Yongmin)
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > foreign athletes to worry</h1>
Hearing the news of the epidemic, not only more Japanese people panicked, but also many foreign athletes, coaches and people in the Tokyo Olympic Village were also worried. U.S. tennis player Koko Gover tweeted that if she tests positive for covid-19, she will not participate in the Olympics. As the Tokyo Olympics approach, more and more foreign athletes are either abandoning their games or being forced into prolonged quarantine, raising concerns that the Tokyo Olympics will be severely affected by the pandemic.
The second is the "scandal" and negative news about the Tokyo Olympics. Over the weekend, an Olympic worker in Uzbekistan was arrested on charges of seriously sexually assaulting a Japanese colleague, and four British-American electricians at the Tokyo Olympics have been arrested on suspicion of drug offenses since this month.
More seriously, Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada, who was one of the musicians in charge of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, was forced to resign on July 19. Oyamada was an important member of the production and performance team for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games announced by the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee on July 14, but it was revealed that in a past interview with a Japanese magazine, Oyamada revealed that he had bullied others when he was a student, locked his classmates in boxes and mocked his disabled classmates.
Immediately after the matter was exposed, it was attacked by Japanese public opinion, and Oyamada apologized on Twitter on July 16, saying that he "lacked consideration for various people." Due to the lack of public opinion, Oyamada finally had to offer his resignation, and the Olympic Organizing Committee had to accept it. The music of about four minutes at the beginning of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in which Koyamada participated is no longer available, and how to replace the musical gap during this period has become a difficult problem. Tokyo 202020-2020222 Toshiro Taketo said in an interview on the evening of July 19 that the 2020s' judgment that it could gain public understanding through introspection was "too naïve" and a "wrong judgment."
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics has been disrupted several times, such as the original opening ceremony leader and director Hiroshi Sasaki was forced to resign in March for proposing a plan to insult the appearance of female artists. In addition, other scandals that are inconsistent with the "diversity and harmony" advocated by the Tokyo Olympics have also emerged, resulting in a continuous shortage of key members of the opening ceremony that will be staged on July 23, and the problem of temporary replacement is very large. The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games must be played in a tight line and there must be no flaws.
Third, sponsors of the Tokyo Olympics have announced that they will not attend the opening ceremony. Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported that as the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games is getting closer and closer, the presidents of some of Japan's major sponsoring companies and other senior officials have announced that they will not participate in the opening ceremony on July 23 due to various unfavorable factors. Following Toyota Motor, the highest-ranking sponsor, the heads of companies such as NTT and NEC also signaled that they would not attend. Japan Airlines is cautiously exploring the response. The holding of the Olympic Games has become the main reason given by companies not to attend, and in view of the growing opposition to hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games under the epidemic in Japan, many Japanese large corporate sponsors are worried that the president's attendance at the opening ceremony may cause widespread dissatisfaction among consumers.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > sponsors</h1>
At present, various Japanese sponsors are testing each other. Fujitsu is one of the companies that has given up senior management to attend the opening ceremony or watch the game. The head of Fujitsu said that the empty venue has been decided, which has forced the company to give up the opportunity to use the right to purchase tickets to entertain trading partners. NEC said that the company "conducted a comprehensive judgment based on the new crown epidemic and so on." Sponsors who gave up their top-level attendance at the opening ceremony generally admitted that they "took into account the pressure of public opinion" and believed that there was "no benefit to showing up" at this time.
But Fujio Misaba, chairman and president of Canon Corporation, one of the main sponsors, is expected to attend the opening ceremony due to his role as honorary chairman of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee.
Some Japanese sponsors have not only stated or hinted that they will not attend the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, but have even offered to suspend advertising during the Olympic Games, such as Toyota, which is inclined to do so, but NEC, Canon, and Nomura Holdings will still run ads as planned.
Tokyo Marine Nikko Fire Insurance Company plans to broadcast footage in its commercial featuring swimmer Rihanako Ikee and others. The company believes that in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, advertisements showing athletes challenging the international stage will gain audience understanding. Other Japanese and international sponsors have also said they will "pay attention to the olympic sports and social atmosphere of other companies, and may adjust their strategies accordingly."
Some Japanese sponsors simply sponsor but don't produce their Olympic ads, such as Bridgestone and Fujitsu. However, JAL, in conjunction with the Tokyo Olympics special "Everyone's JAL2020 Jet", is likely to still appear and fly as originally planned.
Profile photo: This is the Olympic rings logo taken in Tokyo, Japan, on June 12, 2020. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Xiaoyi)
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > sponsored companies are divided into different levels</h1>
The sponsors of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games are divided into different tiers, with Toyota and Bridgestone at the highest level, followed by NEC and Canon, which are "Gold Partners". It is said that when the sponsoring companies signed the contract, the sponsorship fee for each company was set at about 15 billion yen (about 887 million yuan). Although some sponsors gave up broadcasting advertisements during the Olympic Games due to public pressure, due to the huge financial pressure, it is not easy to finally decide to abandon broadcasting advertisements. In particular, they believe that the previous Olympic Games will attract the world's attention, although the audience at the Tokyo Olympics this year will be greatly reduced due to the epidemic, and even most of them are empty matches, but the number of viewers in Japan and the world who have changed to watch live TV or broadcast at home will be greatly increased, and if they abandon broadcasting advertising, it will be a huge self-loss.
Fourth, there is still uncertainty about the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics and the attendance of international heavyweight guests. Originally, the leaders of many countries expressed their intention to attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games this year, some of which were to show support for Japan in hosting the Olympic Games, some of which planned to take the opportunity to visit Japan and engage with Japanese leaders to discuss important matters, and some of which were to show support for the Olympic spirit and the Olympic Games. However, under the epidemic situation, the situation is changeable, and so far there are very few international organizations and foreign politicians who have confirmed the presence of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which has made Japan deeply frustrated and lost.
Japan's Miyauchi Agency announced on July 20 that the Japanese Emperor will attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games at the National Stadium on July 23, but the Empress will not attend this time. In addition, a relevant person from the Japanese government revealed on July 20 that regarding the opening declaration that was originally planned to be recited by the Japanese emperor as honorary president at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Suga government and the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee are coordinating to avoid writing words with celebratory colors in consideration of the new crown epidemic. According to the analysis, due to the sharp deterioration of the epidemic, there are differences around the hosting of the Olympic Games, so the declaration of the emperor, which symbolizes the unity of the people, also needs to take into account the epidemic situation, and has to make a rare judgment.
Princess Anne, a member of the British royal family who chairs the British Olympic Committee, has attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games several times but said on July 19 that she would not attend the Tokyo Olympics. The British royal family did not explain why, but the Japanese estimate may have taken into account the recent epidemic situation in Japan and the rising sentiment in Japan that the Tokyo Olympics will cause the epidemic to worsen.
But on July 13, the White House announced that first lady of the United States, Gill W. Bush, had announced that the First Lady of the United States, Wouldn't have been able to do Biden will lead the US delegation to the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and Fauci, a top infectious disease expert in the United States, said that the United States will provide comprehensive epidemic prevention protection for the first lady to attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in had always expressed his expectation to visit Japan at the opening of the Tokyo Olympics so that he could talk with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga during his term of office to solve the historical and economic and trade disputes between South Korea and Japan, but due to the recent turmoil between South Korea and Japan, the two sides did not talk, and Moon Jae-in has decided to cancel his trip to Tokyo.
< H1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the IOC's most positive attitude</h1>
At present, the most supportive of Japan's hosting of the Tokyo Olympic Games is the International Olympic Committee. In his speech at the 138th plenary session of the IOC in Tokyo on 20 July, President Bach said: "Finally here. The stage is ready. Billions of people will watch the Tokyo Olympics (via television, etc.) and praise the Japanese people. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said, "We will give priority to protecting the lives and health of our citizens and take thorough measures so that athletes and related personnel can participate in the Olympic Games with peace of mind." I am determined to achieve a safe and secure Olympics."
Photo caption: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. (Xinhua News Agency/Kyodo News Agency)
Japanese media reported that Japan was encouraged by the IOC's positive support, but there were other complicating factors in the IOC's positive attitude. Japan is very concerned about the lively tokyo Olympic Games and expects as many spectators as possible to watch it lively, but it is also worried that the rebound of the epidemic during the Olympic Games will worsen and will be protested by the people, and Suga is currently under great pressure. The International Olympic Committee believes that even if the stadium is empty, the Tokyo Olympics should be held as scheduled.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > extremely risky Japanese five flavors</h1>
IOC President Bach said on June 21 at an online meeting between the parties on the maximum number of spectators in attendance, "I would like to say, let's get started." We're ready," but the Japanese heart is full of mixed feelings.
"For the International Olympic Committee, it doesn't matter if there is a live audience, what is important is to make the Olympic Games run and broadcast to the world." According to the "host city contract" for the Tokyo Olympic Games signed by Japan and the International Olympic Committee, the ticket revenue of the Olympic Games belongs to the Olympic Organizing Committee of the host country, while the licensing income of the Olympic Games' television rights, which accounts for 70% of the total revenue of the International Olympic Committee, belongs to the International Olympic Committee.
U.S. media giant NBCUniversal, which has been awarded broadcast rights from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to the 2032 Summer Olympics, is said to have paid the IOC a total of about $12.03 billion. The company's chief executive (CEO) Jeff Hill believes that "[Tokyo Olympics] has the potential to be the most profitable Olympic Games," confidently stating that "once the opening ceremony starts, everyone forgets everything and enjoys the game." World viewers under the COVID-19 pandemic will spend more time at home, which will increase TV ratings.
For Japan, which mainly relies on ticket revenue, the risk of insisting on hosting the Tokyo Olympics is obviously extremely high, but the arrow is already on the string, and Japan has no way back.
Source: Oriental Network Oriental Think Tank
Author:Zhou Yuan (Chief Researcher of Oriental Think Tank)
Edit: Kirito
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