Business News

Japan is making great strides in the Olympics

[ad_1]

Last Friday, marrying a shotgun between a rise in the number of Covid-19 infections and the immediate delivery of the Olympics, the Japanese government extended the state of emergency for Tokyo and other regions until the end of the month.

Under the enacted decree, companies will operate on a reduced basis and subject to restrictions vaccination program it will continue to frustrate a nation that wants to work and mix safely. Citizens of the world’s most populous cities will be called upon to make “unnecessary” trips beyond the home. For people who are invited by a government and world athletes to run, jump and sweat in Tokyo just 11 weeks from now, there’s a lot to be said.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, the Japanese government has in many ways left the question of what is “unnecessary” to the interpretation of individuals and the private sector. In the more frightening days of the crisis, he relied on the correct (and successful) application of the most rigorous reading, quickly creating policies to work from home and, for example, creating sharp specifications between food purchases and hat purchases. .

These lines have been blurred. The current efforts of the government lead to an attempt to confirm the old interpretation with hope it brings down infection numbers Enough time to regain the reputation of being in control of the disease in Japan. If he’s lucky, that could happen before tens of thousands of athletes and their teams start immigration.

The problem – and arguably one of the reasons why the new state of emergency is not working as well as the previous ones – is paradoxical. preparations for the Olympics. With the decision to move forward these games and all the twists and turns needed to make them happen safely fall under “no doubt”.

The public, who must endure the daily warnings of street loudspeakers, must be reluctant to make a trip to the child’s picnic or bookstore, strictly speaking, if necessary. It seems that the government had no difficulty in dressing, defining simultaneous surfing and ping-pong tournaments as a key activity. Everyone, regardless of their passion for the event, can see the problems in that.

Three closely related ones stand out. The first is that by emphasizing that the Olympics must be held in a pandemic, Japan’s role as a host is based on the assertion that duties and destiny are written. This idea, which was strong in the right hands, took great advantage of convincing the advertising giant Densu to separate the Japanese company. $ 3.1 million in Olympic sponsorship money. But public excitement reserves are low for a year after being pushed by an invisible slogan.

Can a charismatic Japanese leader convince the population, 97% of whom have not been vaccinated, to assume the risks of the event, rather than that of a transnational organization like the International Olympic Committee?

Could they believe that hundreds of doctors and nurses are expanding their skills to serve games instead of being wider? Maybe, but it would take a lot more than a sale and a bigger sale Yoshihide Suga, the prime minister, appears able or willing to gather.

The second problem is that the government is at risk of igniting a fire and creating a credibility deficit that could last for a long time, and that political priority is shifting to vaccinating the world’s oldest population. Leaders everywhere have been forced by this pandemic to make difficult classification decisions. Japanese leaders trying to convince voters to spend months and years in danger, it seems, were always more important than water polo and pole vaulting.

But this becomes the third and perhaps most demoralizing problem of treating games as something necessary: ​​the Olympics, instead of being a rising festival of achievement, ambition and solidarity, are a job of unhappiness. The language of training – with strong commitments to safety, a high probability of not having a live audience, and the arduous limitations of athletes visiting one of the most exciting cities in the world – all explains any explanation for what will be enjoyable.

Beyond the difficult organizational difficulties, the decision to play games at the moment is in dire need of the patience, courage and public spirit of Tokyo and Japan. Demand can be exaggerated without a clear commitment to fun – and all this is happening precisely because humanity is useless.

leo.lewis@ft.com

[ad_2]

Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button