Top Japanese politician says that cancelling Tokyo Olympics is still “an option”

A senior member of Japan’s ruling party has said that cancelling the Tokyo Olympics “remains an option” if the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen. “If it seems impossible to do it any more, then we have to stop, decisively,” Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic party, said in a TV interview that has yet to be aired. While Nikai did not call for the Games to be called off, his comments are at odds with the united front presented by the Japanese government, Tokyo 2020 organisers and the International Olympic Committee [IOC] – all of which insist that the delayed event will open as planned on 23 July.

No overseas spectators will be allowed to attend Olympic events, and a decision on whether to admit people in Japan to venues could come later this month. Public opinion in Japan is firmly opposed to the Games, with a recent poll showing that 39.2% thought they should be cancelled, and 32.8% calling for them to be postponed a second time, a move the IOC has said is impossible. “We will hold the Games in a way that’s feasible,” Taro Kono, the minister in charge of Japan’s vaccination drive, said in a separate TV interview, according to the Kyodo news agency. “That may be without spectators”.