- Lourdes Heredia
- BBC International Reporter
The empty venues and social distancing measures made this unusual Olympic Games a little more bleak and gloomy.
This should have been an Olympic Games that brought hope. The Tokyo Olympics 2020 was originally a symbol of the world‘s victory over the global pandemic, but it turned out to be counterproductive. For many reporters, athletes and delegation personnel in Tokyo, it seems that they are facing various restrictions in the coming days that may be tightened rather than relaxed.
“Given the number of new coronavirus infections, we cannot predict what will happen. So if the number of confirmed diagnoses rises, we will continue to discuss,” said Toshiro Muto, chief of affairs of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee when asked whether the Olympics will continue. .
His vague answer made the headlines and was interpreted as a hint that the Olympics might be cancelled. This just shows how delicate the situation is for all of us who are living in the Tokyo Olympic bubble.
An online meeting of BBC International reporters-everyone was locked up in a hotel room alone.
Everyone who comes from outside Japan must be quarantined before going to Tokyo, and several copies of negative nucleic acid test certificates are required before boarding the plane.
As soon as we arrived, we had to quarantine in the hotel for another three days and undergo nucleic acid tests every day.
Restrictions make you only go out for 15 minutes a day to buy food and drinks at convenience stores.
You can’t go to the restaurant for the first 14 days, but you can order takeout, which may be difficult for people who don’t speak Japanese.
There is only this kind of takeaway for three meals a day.
I can speak and read Japanese, but isolation is still not easy. After three days, things have not become much easier-we still can only go to specific venues, everything is in the Olympic bubble.
The only window allowed to go out every day is those 15 minutes-and if the number of new crown cases continues to rise, even this may be cancelled.
Tokyo residents are disturbed by the arrival of all tourists, and some newspapers also reported some news that allegedly violated the “Olympic Bubble”.
“On July 16, the Cuban delegation was asked to wait for the test results of the new crown virus in a room in the airport office building. The athletes and the airport staff use the same bathroom, and they are so close that they will have physical contact when they walk through the corridors and stairs in both directions. ,” “The Mainichi Shimbun” wrote in its July 20 report.
The mood of the public is extremely tense, and I feel as if even the Olympics itself is already on the edge of a cliff.
Revisit the old place
When I was a student, I was in Japan.
I first came to Japan in 1989, when I was 20 years old, and I came here to go to university. I studied at the University of Tsukuba, which is equivalent to the current communication major. At that time, I was the only non-Japanese in my college.
I left Japan when I was 25. After leaving for more than 20 years, I have been looking forward to coming to this most memorable country again.
In the midst of bubbles, I understand why the Japanese government takes all these measures. I vaguely hope that things will get better and I can go to meet my old college classmates.
But now I think this is impossible-the public already has their decision.
There used to be plans to open up some public spaces for people to watch the Olympic Games through big screens, but everything was cancelled and the Olympic venues felt very empty.
I visited Junko while standing outside the fence of the National Arena-she took her 12- and 9-year-old children. She told me that she thought the battle against the new crown epidemic had been lost.
“It’s very complicated. I’m very happy that we have the Olympics. We even bought tickets. Now I have an ambivalent feeling in my heart. I want to enjoy this time, but deep down I am very sad and uneasy about the Olympics.”
According to a poll published by the Mainichi Shimbun on Sunday (July 18), nearly two-thirds of people do not expect to enjoy the Olympics.
“I think my feelings are the same as every Japanese living in Tokyo, and the same as everyone who comes from outside,” Junko said.
Matsuda Kiko said that she was here to “mourn a Olympic event that should have been perfect.”
“For all these people from outside, I feel very sad, very sad, because we can’t receive them in the way we want,” said Noriko Matsuda. “Japanese culture focuses on hospitality-the so-called’omotenashi’, But it’s impossible now, we have to be very careful.”
Ms. Matsuda came to see the five-ring sculpture outside the stadium and mourned an Olympic event that should have been perfect.
The best preparations until the epidemic arrives
By 2019, Japan will be ready. The construction of most of the Olympic venues is proceeding as planned, or even completed ahead of schedule, and the demand for tickets is also high. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tokyo is the best-prepared Olympic host city.
But in the past few days after my arrival, our feeling in the Olympic bubble is…gloomy.
The empty sports arena feels like a surreal science fiction movie.
Lawns, trees, buildings-they are all spotless. Everything is ready to welcome everyone, everything is prepared precisely as planned, but the surroundings are still empty. It feels like a science fiction movie.
Toyoko Watanabe also came to see the Olympic rings at the National Stadium. Despite the protests, she felt that the authorities had done their best under this uncertain new crown epidemic.
“I am very happy that the Olympics are here. I went to Tokyo for the first time when I was seven. I have the best memories. This is the second time for me. I am here to express my support. “she says.
But there are roadblocks everywhere, but not many people. I asked her how she felt about it.
Warning words about the new crown epidemic can be seen everywhere in the Olympic Village.
“I regret this and I am lonely. I understand that there is a problem with the new coronavirus, but it has been a year since the start of the global pandemic, and we know what preventive measures are.”
“I think people should be able to come, act responsibly, and consciously maintain social distancing, so roadblocks are really unnecessary-it’s an overreaction,” she said.
There are still a few days before the opening ceremony, but all kinds of bad news are still coming. This week, a group of 14 scholars, writers, journalists and other people submitted a petition letter with a total of 140,000 signatures to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, requesting the cancellation of the Olympics at the last minute.
When the number of confirmed cases of the new crown is soaring to host the Olympics, the atmosphere here is very quiet. Even major sponsors like Toyota have decided not to appear in any TV commercials related to the Olympics and are unwilling to be associated with this unpopular conference.
This already illustrates the bleak atmosphere surrounding this abandoned event.
BBC International ReporterLourdes HerediaReporting on the Olympics in Tokyo.