Tokyo Olympics: Covid-19 cases spike as foreign dignitaries arrive for opening ceremony

Infections in Tokyo hit their highest number since mid-January with two more athletes testing positive
Japan’s PM Suga said the opening ceremony on Friday should go ahead after the director of the event was fired for Holocaust comments made in 1998

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Reutersin Tokyo

Published: 11:46am, 22 Jul 2021

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Problems continued to mount for Tokyo Olympic organisers on Thursday, as the city reported 1,979 new daily Covid-19 cases, the highest number since mid-January. Meanwhile, two more athletes at the Olympic Village tested positive for Covid-19 a day before the Games are set to officially open and the director of the opening ceremony was fired over comments he made about the Holocaust.

Organisers announced 12 new infection overall on Thursday, including the two athletes, bringing the total number linked with the Games to 87.

The news is comes just days after a well known musician was forced to step down as composer for the opening ceremony after old reports of his bullying and abusive behaviour surfaced.

US first lady Jill Biden arrives at Yokota air force base, outskirts of Tokyo, on Thursday. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, however, said the opening ceremony should go ahead, as he began meeting foreign dignitaries who are coming to Tokyo for the Games. Suga and his wife Mariko had dinner on Thursday evening with US President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, who is leading the American Olympic delegation.

Jill Biden told Suga that she hopes for the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The prime minister welcomed Biden’s attendance at the opening ceremony, saying it was of “major significance” for Japan-US relations, the ministry said.

Jill Biden is scheduled to meet Emperor Naruhito on Friday.

Suga also had a series of meetings on Thursday with South Sudanese Vice-President Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, followed by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga greets South Sudanese Vice-President Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Suga is set to meet with French President Emanuel Macron on Saturday, when he is expected to raise the issue of child abductions by separated parents.

Meanwhile, domestic media reported Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who memorably dressed up as the titular plumber from video game Super Mario at the Rio Games to represent Japan, would be skipping the opening ceremony.

In a speech in front a banquet room full of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in 2013 that the lingering nuclear disaster at Fukushima was “under control” and pitched his nation as a “passionate, proud, and a strong believer” in the Olympics.

At the time, Abe and his supporters hoped the Olympics would parallel the 1964 Tokyo Games heralding the nation’s revival after decades of economic stagnation and also mark its recovery from a devastating nuclear and natural disaster in 2011.

Instead, the Games, delayed a year because of the pandemic, has faced a series of setbacks, including the exit of Yoshiro Mori, the former head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, who resigned after making sexist remarks. That was soon followed by the resignation of Tokyo Olympics creative head Hiroshi Sasaki after he made derogatory comments about a popular Japanese female entertainer.

The Tokyo 2020 organising committee said Kentaro Kobayashi, who is listed as a show director for the Games’ opening event, was fired after a joke he made about the Holocaust as part of his comedy act in 1998 resurfaced in domestic media. “I offer my deep apology for causing trouble and worry for many people concerned as well as Tokyo residents and Japanese people when the opening ceremony is almost upon us,” said a sombre Seiko Hashimoto, who heads the committee.

Earlier, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organisation, released a statement saying Kobayashi’s association with the Olympics would “insult the memory” of the six million Jewish people who perished in the Holocaust. Kobayashi apologised for his past comments in a statement.

03:22

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The opening ceremony on Friday, which normally stands as a major showcase of the host nation, is set to be a subdued affair, with Japanese media reporting that less than 950 people – including only around 15 global leaders – are set to attend.

In addition to about 800 guests from overseas – including Jill Biden and Macron – around 150 Japanese are expected to be at the ceremony. Japanese attendees will include Suga, Emperor Naruhito and other top officials, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Hashimoto the Tokyo 2020 president, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

In a visit with Naruhito on Thursday, IOC head Thomas Bach tried to assuage concerns over the virus, reiterating that organisers were doing their utmost not to bring infections to Japan.

“Managing the Games while at the same time taking all possible measures against Covid-19 is far from an easy task,” Naruhito told Bach and other IOC members.

Olympics competitions have already begun, with the Japanese women’s softball team getting the hosts off to a winning start on Wednesday, while the highly ranked US women’s soccer team were upset by Sweden.

The second day of softball began early on Thursday under cloudy skies in Fukushima with the US defeating Canada by a run to go 2-0 in the standings, while Japan beat Mexico 3-2.

Additional reporting by Associated Press, Kyodo