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TOKYO (AP) – When the Tokyo Olympics began amid a worsening pandemic in Japan, the majority of the host nation was in opposition, with Emperor Naruhito dropping the word “celebrate” from his opening statement. Welcome.
But once the Games started and the local media moved on to cover the Japanese athletes’ “medal rush”, many Japanese were won over. They watched television to cheer on Japanese athletes at the Olympics which ended Sunday with a record 58 medals for the home country, including 27 gold.
There is always concern that Japan will pay a price to host these Games; recent days have seen a record number of virus cases. But for now, among many, a sense of pride and goodwill persists.
“Having the games in the middle of the pandemic didn’t seem like a good idea, and I wondered if they should be canceled,” said Keisuke Uchisawa, 27, an office worker. But the medal harvest, he said, has been “very exciting and uplifting. Once the Games started, we naturally encouraged the athletes and just enjoyed watching them. “
His wife Yuki, a medical worker, was mostly worried about the pandemic. But she started to clap when she noticed the patients at her hospital beaming as they watched the Games. “I saw the power of sport and thought it was wonderful,” she said. “The athletes performed exceptionally well and we wanted to encourage them. “
The couple recently picked out matching Olympic shirts and pandemic masks from an official merchandise store in downtown Tokyo. The store, which was nearly empty before the Games, was crowded on a recent weekday near the end of the Olympics. Many of the customers appeared to be neighborhood workers passing by during lunch breaks.
Previously, many Japanese have expressed reluctance or opposition to hosting the Olympics during a pandemic that they believe was worsening. A spate of Olympic Games-related resignations over sexism, past bullying and Holocaust jokes also damaged the image of the Games ahead of the July 23 opening. There have been protests in the streets of Tokyo and on social media.
After the opening ceremony, however, many opponents began to cheer.
More than half of Japan’s population watched the event, according to rating firm Video Research – the highest score for an Olympic opening ceremony in Japan since 61% for the 1964 Tokyo games, a time when many fewer people had televisions.
Outside the National Stadium, where dozens of protesters regularly held anti-Olympic rallies, many fans lined up next to the Olympic rings waiting to take selfies. It was the closest they could reach to locked stadiums without spectators.
Opposition to the Olympics has steadily declined in recent weeks. A poll by the Asahi newspaper just before the Olympics showed that the number of opponents had fallen to 55% from around 70% earlier this year, and 56% of those polled said they wanted to watch the Games at television. And separate surveys conducted by Yomiuri newspaper and TBS Television at the end of the Games showed that over 60% of their respective respondents said it was good to host the Games.
Those who felt intimidated by the intrusive mood at first began to feel relieved.
“It was a little scary getting on a train wearing an Olympic volunteer uniform” at first, when people opposed the Games even more strongly, said Asuka Takahashi, a 21-year-old student who helped out. the beach volleyball site. She felt less tension after the Games started and thought more people were interested in it than she initially thought.
And when Takahashi recently visited the Olympic stores, she also found that many merchandise was sold out. “A lot of Japanese,” she said, “are finally enjoying the Olympics.”
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, criticized for insisting on hosting the Olympics despite the virus, probably hoped for this change in sentiment. He tried to reverse his government’s plummeting support ratings ahead of the general election expected in the fall.
“The outstanding achievements of the Japanese Olympians will also give us strength,” said Tateo Kawamura, a veteran lawmaker with Suga’s ruling party. Suga called out and congratulated judoka Naohisa Takato, who won the first gold medal for Japan, and has since publicly congratulated the medalists on Twitter.
Suga has repeatedly said there is no evidence linking the upsurge in cases to the Games – and, in fact, just over 400 positive cases have been reported inside the early Olympic ‘bubble’. July until the closing ceremony.
But if the Games raise public sentiment in the long term, it could depend on the evolution of the virus.
“The government has forced the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in order to regain popularity (…) but it is a risky bet,” Seigo Hirowatari, professor of law emeritus at the University of Tokyo, said during a recent online event.
While some have tried to see the positive side of the Olympics, others remain opposed. There is a new word circulating to describe what some see as increasing pressure to support or even talk about the Games: “Oly-hara” or Olympic harassment.
Medical experts have sounded the alarm as viral infections accelerate in Tokyo; daily cases reached new heights during the Olympics. On August 5, Tokyo recorded 5,042 cases, an all-time high since the start of the pandemic early last year. Experts say the ongoing infections propelled by the more contagious delta variant could send the number of daily cases above 10,000 in two weeks. Nationally, the total number of cases has exceeded one million, with more than 15,300 deaths.
The Japanese government last week introduced a controversial new policy in which coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms will self-isolate at home as the wave of cases strain hospitals. This policy was necessary, the government said, despite the extension of Tokyo’s state of emergency to wider areas which will last until the end of August.
“If you turn on the television, there is nothing but the Olympics, and people don’t share a sense of crisis” over the explosion of infections in the middle of the party, said Dr Jin Kuramochi , expert in respiratory medicine. “People will see the reality after the closing ceremony. “
Those who opposed the Games say the money should have been spent on healthcare and economic support for people and businesses affected by the pandemic. The $ 15.4 billion cost of the Games – largely borne by Japanese taxpayers’ money – has raised concerns.
This leads to feelings like that of Yoko Kudo, a preschool teacher.
“I hope,” she said, “at least the rest of the world will thank Japan for having passed the Games despite the difficulties.”
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PA reporter Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this report. Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
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