TOKYO • Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she can see "no circumstances" under which the postponed 2020 Olympics will be cancelled, despite rising coronavirus infections in Japan and continued public scepticism.
In an interview with AFP, she warned that the fate of the Tokyo Games would impact future Olympics, including the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and Paris 2024.
She acknowledged that a majority of the Japanese public now opposes hosting the Games next year, but said she was convinced those concerns could be overcome.
"The Japanese public and Tokyo residents are looking at the current conditions," she said yesterday. "We are preparing for the future."
Organisers and officials have been at pains to insist that the 2020 Games can go ahead next year. A further postponement has been ruled out, and Ms Koike said "there are no circumstances" under which she could envisage the Games being cancelled.
"Citizens of the world are seeing the Tokyo Games as a symbol that humanity will have defeated the coronavirus, that will lead to the Beijing Winter Games and then the Paris Games after that," she said.
"I think we have to make Tokyo a success first, otherwise it will leave a serious impact on Paris."
A poll released yesterday by national broadcaster NHK found just 27 per cent of respondents support the holding of the Games next year, with 32 per cent backing a cancellation and 31 per cent favouring a further postponement.
Ms Koike said she believed those views would change, pointing to the extensive virus countermeasures that have been drafted by the government, Tokyo and Olympic organisers.
"I am convinced that people will come to see hope again, once coronavirus measures are firmly implemented," she said.
Japan is battling a third wave of infections, with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Monday urging people to reconsider travel during the holiday period.
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32%
Respondents to a poll by Japanese broadcaster NHK who favour cancellation of next year's Olympics.
$20.5b
Estimated cost (US$15.4 billion) to hold the delayed Olympics.
The country has seen a comparatively small outbreak of the virus, with fewer than 2,600 deaths reported since the first case was identified in January.
But it faces particular scrutiny because of the ongoing preparations for the Games, now due to open on July 23.
A 54-page report released this month outlined the measures organisers say will keep athletes and spectators safe, ranging from tests before arrival to bans on cheering loudly in venues.
They have pointed to sporting events held this autumn in Japan, including a four-country international gymnastics competition with several thousand spectators, as evidence that the Games can be pulled off.
The arrival of new vaccines has also bolstered their confidence. But the medical breakthrough does not appear to have moved the needle on public opinion in Japan, which may also have been hardened by news that the delay and virus countermeasures will add at least another US$2.4 billion (S$3.2 billion) to the existing US$13 billion price tag for the Games.
Organisers countered that the estimate included items not directly related to the Games, but they have since cut various costs, albeit saving only an estimated US$280 million.
"Leases have been extended by one year, so inevitably the cost is rising," Ms Koike said.
"But what I do not want is to make it a choice between whether we pay the cost or we drop the whole thing."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
