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Tokyo 2020-21: The Troubled Games of the XXXll Olympiad

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Gavan McCormack
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Abstract

On 25 March, the Olympic Torch Relay is to set out from Fukushima with its “sacred flame” on a grand national circuit, visiting all 47 of the country's prefectures and arriving at the Tokyo Games venue for the opening ceremony on 23 July. But will this scenario really play out? Even as the countdown to the Olympic opening ceremony proceeds, in the shadow of the 3.11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster and the Covid pandemic there are reports that cancelation might be imminent.

Keywords

OlympicsTokyocoronavirussexismpostwarpoliticsJapan
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 6 , March 2021 , e6
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

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References

Notes

1 Koide Hiroaki, “The Fukushima nuclear disaster and the Tokyo Olympics,” translated and introduced by Norma Field, The Asia-Pacific Journal – Japan Focus, March 1, 2020.

2 The storage tanks are estimated to reach capacity by 2022. (Tim Schauenberg, “Fukushima: How the ocean became a dumping ground for radioactive waste,” 11 March 2020.

3 Chang Mari, “Dumping Fukushima's contaminated water into the ocean could be a violation of international law,” Hankyoreh, 10 January 2021.

4 Koide, op. cit; “Fukushima dai-ichi genpatsu no osensui hasseiryo, ima mo ichinichi doramu kan 700 ko-bun chikasui ya amamizu ga shinnyu,” Mainichi shimbun, 28 January 2021.

5 Ian Fairlie, “Should TEPCO/Japanese government dump tritium-contaminated water from Fukushima into the sea?” 18 September 2019.

6 Fairlie, ibid.

7 Kihara Satoru, “Mori hatsugen wa 'kokueki o sokoneru kara mondai na no ka,” Arinohitokoto, 11 February 2021.

8 The female participation rate among members of the lower house of the national Diet is just 9.9 per cent (as of October 2020) and in local government assemblies, 14 per cent (“Mori sexist remarks show slow progress in narrowing gender gap,” Mainichi shimbun, 10 February 2021). According to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union that amounts to ranking as 167th of 190 countries.

9 “Jiminto josei giin ni to kaigi miseru ga hatsugen mitomezu hoshin hyomei,” BBC News Japan, 18 February 2021.

10 “Mori Yoshiro shi 'josei takusan haitte iru rijikai wa …. ” mikka no besshi hatsugen zenbun,“ Yahoo Japan, 4 February 2021.

11 Kihara Satoru, “Shunin kaiken de senmei ni natta Hashimoto Seiko no futekikaku sei,” Ari no hitokoto, 19 February 2021.

12 “Tokyo gorin ‘yotei dori kaisai subeku’ wa 9 per cent,” Mainichi shimbun, 13 March 2021

13 “Over half of firms in Japan want Olympics canceled or postponed, survey shows,” Japan Times, 15 February 2021.

14 Arata Namima and Masashi Shimizu, “Citing pandemic, Shimane chief suggests halting Olympic relay,” Asahi shimbun, 17 February 2021.

15 Justin McCurry, “Tokyo 2020, Tokyo Olympics, definitely going ahead unless cancelled again,” The Guardian, 2 February 2021.

16 “Olympic officials to bar overseas spectators from attending events,” Asahi Shimbun, 10 March 2021.