Flags of each country flutter during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium (New National Stadium) on the 8th. Olympic Photography FoundationHas Japan’s dream of a revival Olympics come true? Foreign media called it ‘the strangest Olympics of all time’.
“The strangest Olympics of all time”
The final fireworks explode over the stadium during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on the 8th. Olympic Photography FoundationThe Associated Press announced the closing of the Tokyo Olympics on the 8th (local time), saying, “The strangest Olympics that will be recorded forever have come to an end.”
The AP emphasized, “From the beginning, expectations were good, and in the worst case, it was a catastrophe.” “The preparation period was a mess and there was a lot of controversy. I was worried throughout the tournament, but there were generally no accidents except the result of the match.”
He added, “The huge hosting costs of up to $15 billion (about 17.2 trillion won) will affect Tokyo after the players leave.”
“The unprecedented event ended strangely as expected,” Reuters reported.
“Due to strict measures against COVID-19 and the spread of mutations around the world, the Olympic Games lacked the financial income and joy that Japan had hoped for,” it said.
The New York Times (NYT) said that it was a memorable Olympics, but it is doubtful whether it will be remembered for good reasons.
The BBC also said, “It is one of the most controversial sporting events in modern history,” and evaluated that this event will be remembered as the ‘Corona Olympics’ and ‘gambling with results’. However, he predicted that it would take time for the Olympics to be evaluated whether it was wise.
Suga’s approval rating is at an all-time low
IOC President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Suga are applauding at the closing ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held at the Tokyo Stadium on the 8th. Olympic Photography FoundationUnder such circumstances, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s approval rating fell below 30 percent for the first time since taking office, a record low.
According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 7th and 8th, as a result of a telephone poll of 1,395 voters across the country, the Suga cabinet’s approval rating was counted at 28%.
Asahi explained that 53% of the respondents did not support it, compared to 31% who supported it and 49% did not support it in the survey just before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics.
However, when it comes to hosting the Olympics, 56% said it was good, while 32% said it was wrong.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Nomura Research Institute estimated that the economic effect of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games was 1.67 trillion yen (about 17.43 trillion won). It added that the economic effect of 133.7 billion yen (about 1.39 trillion won) evaporated as it proceeded with no audience.
In addition, on the 12th of last month, the fourth state of emergency was declared in Tokyo and other sectors, such as restaurants and travel, resulting in an economic loss of 2.19 trillion yen (about 22.76 trillion won).
Three-fold increase in COVID-19 cases
Seiko Hashimoto, chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, delivers a farewell speech at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on the 8th. Olympic Photography FoundationAlthough Japan and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) maintain that the Tokyo Olympics are not related to the spread of Corona 19, the number of confirmed cases has increased about three times during the Olympics.
As of the 8th, when the closing ceremony was held, there were 14,472 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Japan. At the opening ceremony on the 23rd of last month, there were 4225 new confirmed cases.
The number of new confirmed cases in Tokyo, where the Olympics was held, is 4,066. For the fifth day, the number of confirmed cases exceeded 4,000. At the time of the opening ceremony, there were 1359 people.
NHK Broadcasting reported that the average number of confirmed cases per week at the closing and opening ceremonies increased by 2.9 times.
During the competition, the number of confirmed cases increased significantly as the delta mutation, which has strong contagious power, spread, and the first confirmed case of the ‘lambda mutation’ was discovered in Peru. Lambda mutations are known to have a higher risk than the existing COVID-19.
