In Tokyo Olympics, an all-too-fleeting glimpse of a youthful and diverse Japan

Support for torch-bearer Naomi Osaka and early success for Japanese athletes, many of them very young, coalesced into a wave of positivity that felt like a genuine cultural turning point
That positivity is crumbling, though, as the Games wind down and new Covid-19 cases in Tokyo reach unprecedented levels

Will Fee

Published: 10:45am, 7 Aug 2021

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Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka described the moment as “undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honour” of her life. Flaming torch in hand, she climbed the steps of a miniature Mount Fuji, lit the Olympic cauldron and, with that, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games began.

There were widespread fears in the build-up that the Games, which finish on Sunday after two weeks of intense sporting action, could become a superspreader event for host nation Japan. Set against the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there was little enthusiasm for an event that at times felt more like an obligation than a celebration.

Despite this, a reported 56.4 per cent of the Tokyo audience tuned in to watch Osaka and others participate in the opening ceremony. This was Japan’s largest domestic viewing percentage of any Olympic opening ceremony since Tokyo last hosted the Games in 1964. Then, Yoshinori Sakai – a man born in Hiroshima on the day the city was bombed in 1945 – served as the final Olympic torch-bearer in the relay.

The role is perhaps the most significant at any Olympics. It is generally reserved for the most high-profile sportsperson in the team or, in the case of Sakai or Muhammad Ali at Atlanta in 1996, a figure of resounding cultural significance for the host nation.

Osaka, at just 23, is a four-time grand slam champion and former world No 1. She is a household name in Japan, instantly recognisable as the face of numerous ubiquitous advertising campaigns.

Unquestionably, Osaka is one of the highest-profile Japanese athletes to compete at these Olympics. As a biracial Japanese citizen born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, she is also a literal torch-bearer for this particular moment of change in the nation’s history.

Japan is often painted as entirely homogenous. Riding the bus or the subway, Tokyo can feel as though it lacks the diversity of other global megacities. Yet, first impressions can be misleading. CNN reports that, as of 2019, one in 30 babies born in Japan has a non-Japanese parent, compared to one in 50 three decades ago.

Alongside Beninese-Japanese NBA basketball player Rui Hachimura, one of two opening ceremony flagbearers, Osaka’s selection as the final torch-bearer in the relay was therefore significant. It was not simply a recognition of her sporting talent but a recognition of Japan’s changing demography.

Initially, the move to make Osaka the global face of the Tokyo Games was greeted positively. Many domestic social media users responded to her emotionally charged post-ceremony messages with congratulatory words of support.

05:03

Naomi Osaka wins in Tokyo Olympics debut, as Japan makes golden start at Games

This wave of positivity spilled over into the first week of the events themselves. Japan’s athletes got off to a barnstorming start. There were feel-good stories galore as judoka Uta and Hifumi Abe made history by becoming the first siblings to win gold in an individual sport on the same day of the Olympics.

Elsewhere, Momiji Nishiya, 13, became the second-youngest individual Olympic gold medallist. She held her nerve to beat Brazilian Rayssa Leal, 13, and fellow Japanese Funa Nakayama, 16, with her last trick of the women’s street skateboarding competition. Yuto Horigome, 22, won gold in the men’s event.

The sport itself is a new addition to the Olympics. With more success to come in the women’s park event a week later, Japan stepped forward as an international powerhouse of a sport that was, until recently, looked down upon domestically for its association with alternative street culture.

Unique coverage of the event concentrated national attention onto the sport’s Olympic debut. Among the host of commentators chosen by national broadcaster NHK to cover the events, pro skateboarder Ryo Sejiri brought a genuine flavour of the sport’s underground roots to national audiences.

01:36

Japan’s first skateboarding Olympic gold inspires young riders

Sejiri’s use of contemporary slang and skating terms set the words trending on Twitter. Mid-coverage banners featured messages from enthusiastic viewers who, having heard rumours linguistic barriers were tumbling on NHK, tuned in just to listen to Sejiri speak.

The excitement was suddenly real. Nikkei Asia reported that, by the end of the first week, positive Olympic commentary on social media had come to outweigh the negative. The home nation’s medal count was stacking up, while rigorous testing at the Olympic Village had limited coronavirus transmission among athletes.

The success of the nation’s youthful, diverse athletic community looked as though it might outshine the long, almost parodic series of gaffes made by the Games’ predominantly older, mostly male organisers. Perhaps, it seemed, even Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s gamble on a successful Games propelling him to election victory in the fall might pay off.

Outside the feel-good Olympic bubble, however, the picture is vastly different. Tokyo’s seven-day average of new coronavirus cases was 1,954.7 in the week leading up to the Olympics opening ceremony. During the first week of events, it was 3,478.7. On Wednesday of the final week, the daily case number reached 4,166.

03:32

Japan’s daily Covid-19 case toll at record high as death rate falls and vaccinations continue

As the Games wind down, there is the sense now that no matter how well the nation’s young athletes have performed, the Suga administration is floundering. Amid a surge of the Delta variant, medical experts estimate that cases in Tokyo could rise to 6,000 to 8,000 per day in the next week.

As public mood turns increasingly sour, so does the early enthusiasm for the Games and what they might signify. Osaka was knocked out in straight sets in the third round of the women’s tennis singles. The loss preceded a sadly predictable social media barrage, including claims someone of dual heritage should never have been selected for the prestigious role Osaka played.

What feels most disappointing about a potential reversion to the norm is that the prominent roles played by Japan’s diverse Olympians had felt momentous, as if we were witnessing an instance of genuine sociocultural change in real time. Already suffering from the anxiety surrounding the nation’s escalating coronavirus situation, it would be a devastating blow for many to see such gains surrendered.

Will Fee is a journalist based in Tokyo