More than 15,000 athletes from over 200 countries are expected to make their way to Japan in time for the Olympics starting July 24.

But as the date nears, pressures on the host country to postpone the Tokyo Games for a second time are mounting after it was initially delayed in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While precautions are in place, coronavirus cases continue to rise in Japan, which is also struggling to ramp up vaccinations. International spectators will be barred from traveling to the Games.

While the final say and planning rests with Olympic organizers and the Japanese government, here’s what major stakeholders have to say.

Full steam ahead, more or less. In the words of International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach in January: “We’re not losing time or energy on speculation about whether the Olympics are taking place,” he said at a press conference.

“Our job is to organize the Olympics, not cancel it. We’re working on how the games will take place.”

“Our job is to organize the Olympics, not cancel it.” — IOC chairman Thomas Bach.

To date, the committee has released an official “playbook of rules” that includes guidelines on safety and has promised to maintain a “safe travel bubble” with the thousands of athletes, their entourages as well as journalists covering the games. It’s also in discussions to secure vaccine donations for Olympic athletes.

Bach more recently reaffirmed that “safety over packed stadiums came first”, as well as voiced his support for medical operations, jabs for athletes, and the strict implementation of “COVID counter-measures” in Olympic villages and all venues. “We are fully committed to the successful and safe delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” he said.

But how that will play out in reality remains to be seen. Officials have already confirmed a positive case involving a coach who entered Japan and tested positive upon arrival at the airport in Tokyo.

Much of Japan is fiercely against holding the Olympics during the pandemic — and understandably so. The country is seeing a rapid rise in daily coronavirus cases.

A new survey showed that 83% of Japanese citizens polled did not want the Olympic games to go ahead in July. It was roughly split between those who wanted it cancelled outright or just postponed again, but the percentages for both were higher than in previous polls.

One public petition calling for the Olympics to be cancelled also drew more than 350,000 signatures.

Japan has extended its state of emergency. But with its slow vaccination rate, the lowest among the world’s wealthiest nations, the country is struggling to contain a new surge.

The government wants the Olympics to proceed. The Tokyo Games are already the most expensive in history, costing an estimated $15.4 billion to stage. The year-long delay added to the financial burden.

“The Tokyo Olympics are operating in a very tough environment,” Toshiro Muto, CEO of the organizing committee, was quoted as saying in an Associated Press report when asked about the record costs.

He also revealed that costs had increased for the opening and closing ceremonies and said that the event should be looked at as “an investment rather than a cost”.

In a column published by Channel News Asia, sports commentator John Duerden said that the financial costs to the Japanese government were a huge factor to its final decision.

“Cancelling the Olympic Games would see Japan losing out financially. Such a loss, as the Japanese economy reels from a pandemic-caused slowdown could [also] be politically damaging,” Duerden noted. “It is understandable that there’s been a reluctance to cancel the Olympics unless absolutely necessary.”

Like the IOC, Japanese government officials have vowed to ensure a safe and secure Olympics.

But earlier this month, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga appeared to acknowledge the growing pressure, saying he has never “put the Olympics first” and that it was up to the IOC, with Japan responsible for ensuring safety measures.

The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association wants the games canceled, Reuters reported. The top medical organization, which represents thousands of doctors, shared an open letter with Prime Minister Suga on its website this week, saying it “strongly requests” the authorities to cancel the games. The group warned that hospitals in Tokyo were also overwhelmed with coronavirus cases.

“Medical institutions dealing with COVID-19 patients have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity,” it said.

It added that Japan would have to bear the maximum responsibility for any superclusters that emerged as a result of the Olympics.

None other than Japan’s biggest sports star, tennis champion Naomi Osaka, voiced alarm over going ahead with the Games. Osaka told BBC Sport that the coronavirus cases in Japan “were a big concern” for her and she wasn’t really sure if the Games should proceed.

“I’m an athlete, and of course my immediate thought is that I want to play in the Olympics,” she said. “But as a human, I would say we’re in a pandemic, and if people aren’t healthy, and if they’re not feeling safe, then it’s definitely a really big cause for concern.”

But Swiss tennis great Roger Federer, who is seeking his first Olympic gold in singles after missing the 2016 Rio Games due to a knee injury, was looking forward to Tokyo. “This is for me the big one,” he was quoted as saying.

Others said that the world could use the international spectacle that the Games provides as a much-needed breather from the deprivation brought on by more than a year of the pandemic.

“I think the whole world really needs this Olympics, maybe more than anything else, due to the difficulties in the past year and a half,” Jonathan Groth, a Danish table tennis player who competed in the 2016 Rio Games, previously told VICE World News. “We need to come together for one event and have something to focus on together.”

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The post Japan Earthquake Today: Extreme Moderate 7.2 quake hits near Sendai, Japan first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck late Saturday off the coast of Tohoku, leaving at least 30 people injured and knocking multiple power plants offline.

The quake, which measured a strong 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale — the second-highest level — jolted Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in the Tohoku region. No tsunami warning was issued.

The injuries were reported in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, but it was not immediately clear if anyone was seriously hurt.

Nationwide, at least 950,000 homes were without power as of midnight, top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference. Kato later said that multiple power plants in the nation were offline.

The quake, which was also felt in Tokyo, where it registered a 4 on the Japanese scale, struck at around 11:07 p.m., according to the Meteorological Agency. The epicenter was off the coast of Fukushima, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of Tokyo. Its focus was estimated to be at a depth of about 55 kilometers.

At a news conference early Sunday morning, a Meteorological Agency official said aftershocks of up to a strong 6 on the Japanese scale could occur for at least a week. The official said Saturday’s quake was believed to be an aftershock of the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck the same region on March 11, 2011.

“Because (the 2011 quake) was an enormous one with a magnitude of 9.0, it’s not surprising to have an aftershock of this scale 10 years later,” said Kenji Satake, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute.

The quake registered a strong 6 in the southern part of Miyagi, and in the Nakadori central and Hamadori coastal regions of Fukushima, the agency said.

Power outages were reported in parts of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Tochigi prefectures, according to media reports. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings reported blackouts across several prefectures as of early Sunday morning.

No abnormalities have been found at the Fukushima Nos. 1 and 2 nuclear power plants, according to Tokyo Electric Power. The same was true for Japan Atomic Power Co.’s inactive Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in the village of Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture and Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture, according to their operators.

Following the quake, JR East temporarily halted operations of its Tohoku, Joetsu, and Hokuriku shinkansen lines. Power outages occurred on some sections. A landslide had covered a section of the Joban Expressway in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, officials said, but no vehicles were found to be trapped.

The Kyodo News bureau in Sendai after a strong earthquake struck on Saturday | KYODO

Horizontal shaking lasted for a few minutes inside a traditional inn in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, with plates for food scattered in its dining room.

“The initial jolt felt more powerful than the one I experienced in the Great East Japan Earthquake,” said Tomoko Kobayashi, 68, who works at the inn. “I wondered if it would end.”

After the 7.1 quake, many smaller earthquakes with magnitudes between 3 and 5 occurred off Fukushima.

A bookshelf is seen tipped over at a home in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, late Saturday after a powerful earthquake struck the region. | KYODO

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga immediately directed government agencies to assess the damage, rescue any potential victims, work with municipalities and provide necessary information about any evacuation plans and damage as soon as possible. The government was setting up a task force to examine the quake.

Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi directed the Self-Defense Forces to gather information on the scope of the damage and be prepared to respond immediately.

The quake, which comes less than a month before the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, registered a 4 on the Japanese scale as far north as Aomori Prefecture and as far west as Shizuoka Prefecture. It was the strongest quake in the region since April 7 that year, the meteorology agency said.

The epicenter of the earthquake that occurred on Feb. 13 at 11:08 p.m. is located in Fukushima Prefecture | JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/14/national/earthquake-fukushima/

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Trucks are stranded on a major road in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, after heavy snow in Japan. Photo: Kyodo

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“We believe, given the increasingly difficult security environment surrounding Japan, it is appropriate to make steady and realistic progress toward nuclear disarmament while maintaining and strengthening our deterrence capabilities to deal with threats,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference.

“Japan shares the goal of this treaty, the abolition of nuclear weapons, … but as we differ in how to approach the issue, we will not become a signatory,” he said, referring to the pact that is set to take effect in January.

As the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, Japan has sought to present itself as a leader in international efforts for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.

But Japan also depends on the U.S. nuclear umbrella to protect it from threats including North Korean missiles, preventing it from endorsing an all-out ban on the production, use, and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is set to enter into force on Jan. 22 after Honduras on Saturday became the 50th country to ratify it. No nuclear powers have endorsed the pact.

Survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and other antinuclear activists have urged the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to sign onto the historic but largely symbolic treaty.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/10/26/national/japan-un-nuclear-ban-treaty/

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