Why Japan's Commitment To The Olympics Isn't About Money
The Lead
Wondery
3.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2021
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For weeks, Japanese citizens have been holding protests about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and saying that Japan should not be hosting the Games in the midst of a worsening coronavirus pandemic. A recent poll showed that 80 percent of the public opposes holding the Olympics, and medical experts have warned that the Games could be a super-spreader event that will further strain the country's health care system. Now the government has declared a state of emergency, meaning many businesses are closing their doors, a move that has further enraged many business owners. So, with public opinion so squarely against them, why has the Japanese government continued to insist that the Olympic Games must go on? Anthony Kuhn, NPR's international correspondent in Seoul, joins us to explain why the government's position is about more than the bottom line.
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Transcript
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| 0:46.0 | I'm walking along an anti-electrics protest that's underway right now here in Japan. |
| 0:57.0 | They are chanting for the gangs to be canceled, holding signs saying that these games can not go on |
| 1:02.0 | asking for the Olympic torch link to be extinguished. |
| 1:06.0 | For weeks now, the Japanese public has been saying that they do not want the Olympics to take place |
| 1:12.0 | because of the country's worsening situation with the coronavirus. |
| 1:15.0 | Experts project with the daily tally could increase to 2000 next month and they want the medical system |
| 1:22.0 | could be overwhelmed again. |
| 1:24.0 | Even a doctor's union in Japan said these games have to be canceled warning they could turn into a super spreader event, |
| 1:31.0 | even without any spectators in the stands. |
| 1:33.0 | And yet despite those concerns, the Olympics are scheduled to start in just over a week. |
| 1:38.0 | Today reporter Anthony Cune joins us from East Asia to talk about why despite warnings from health experts |
| 1:44.0 | in so much public opposition, the Japanese government is insisting that the games must go on. |
| 1:50.0 | From Wondering in the Athletic, I'm Anders Keltow. |
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