Are they completely stark raving bonkers or just completely clueless? Or both?
I cannot see, for a minute, the Olympics taking place as originally planned.
Looking forward to it,
It really can't happen.... Surely has to go back 12 months or something.
Money makes strange things happen:
The Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 cost $40 billion.
The Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 cost $51 billion.
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro cost at least $13 billion.
It's not happening. Zero chance. It'll hardly be the pinnacle of athletic performance if most of the athletes have been under house arrest
Not happening but until the japanese government (if you thought our method of government was failing then check out japans version on how not to run a country/democracy) comes together in agreement on a way to save face/economic decay for the fallout of such a measure then they'll continue to repeat "nothing to see here, move along".
Similar to how the grand national/glastonbury etc are still peddling the falsehood that everythings ok.
Wishful thinking by Abe.
They need the huge economic boost that would come from the games but it won't happen.
How things change - 25 yrs ago (or more) every country wanted to emulate japanese business efficiency and economic performance; in The Economist every week.
Deflation, poor government and more.
Very sad.
It might be difficult for them to see whats really going on especially outside Japan. As mentioned, culturally, there is always huge respect and difference to those more senior in society or workplace, so a true picture of whats going on is sometimes tricky to see.
In japan, they had pretty severe measures in place very quickly, as they are, rightly, terrified that the Olympics will not happen. It’s seems these measures are working as the progression of C-19 is very slow (if the numbers are to be believed). Hokkaido, north island, is the worst affected to the most restrictive measures are in place there.
I agree it seems very unlikely, not because of whats going in Japan, but the shit show they rest fo the world are going through!
I thought it wasn't in their gift to cancel it was an IOC decision?
I'm sure Abe is not daft, it sounds like the media taking something out of the context. There may also be cultural aspects at play, where following the proper process is important.
Of course it won't happen, how on earth will a lot of the athletes train or travel?
The Olympic Village itself is a pop-up mini-city of thousands, even before you count media, officials etc. Even if the first peak has been passed by then, and no spectators are allowed, who in their right mind would bring in thousands of people from every corner of the globe to re-seed the population in your largest cities?
See you next year at the same time?
It is probably a cultural thing
If a Japanese government official announces the cancellation it will be a terrible loss of face not only for the poor soul who gets to make the announcement but also the government as a whole, and it is impossible to underestimate the impact this would have on the Japanese’s mindset.
However if the IOC announces the cancellation it would be a totally different thing and face would be saved all round .
