The correspondance between the Tokyo Olympics 2020 2021 and the spike in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, you be the judge.
The Tokyo Olympics were held between 23 July and 8 August 2021.
The Summer Paralympics were held between 24 August and 5 September 2021, 16 days after the completion of the Olympics.
The spike in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo started late June (when the contestants began to arrive in Tokyo), peaking around September 9th or 10th, and continuing its transmission through late August.
AND YET, the politicians and the organizers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Organising Committee, insist that there was no correlation, and the IOC even praised the Tokyo Olympics for its safety measures in preventing the spread of COVID-19 (?!).
The Tokyo bid for the Olympics was riddled with disaster from the beginning.
The candidacy for Tokyo Olympics 2016 lost out to Rio, and while many thought this was fortunate due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake & tsunami and nuclear disaster, maybe had it been held in Tokyo then a percentage of the proceeds could have been donated to the recovery of Fukushima.
The beautiful "Blooming Logo" above was used for Tokyo's bid in 2011 for the 2020 Olympics, but unfortunately, it was not permitted to be used as the official logo for the "Tokyo Olympics 2020" proper.
The "Tokyo Olympics 2020" Logo Controversy
In 2015, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee revealed the logos for the Olympic and Paralympic Games designed by Kenjiro Sano. But, oops, Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed the logo was a copy of his design from 2013 for the Theatre de Liege. And, the Organising Committee was back to the drawing board, and decided to hold an open design competition to find the new logo. Out of nearly 15,000 submissions, of course, they chose the ugliest of the 4 finalists.
(For an excellent review of the controversy see: https://myfopinion.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/the-tokyo-2020-logo-controversy/ )
Then there was the controversy over the "neo-futuristic, 80,000-seat stadium designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid." Google it yourself.
There were also the bribery and heat issues... Anyhow, ...
In March 2020, the organising committee decided to postpone the Tokyo Olympics2020 by a year due to COVID-19.
Google it youself, but it is my understanding that while the Olympics have been cancelled previously, this is the first time they've been delayed by a year.
International Olympic Committee member says the Games will go on "barring Armageddon"
-- https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tokyo-2020-timeline-2021-06-22/
Tokyo Olympics2020 NONO should have been cancelled, see the spike of COVID-19 cases in chart at top.
Tokyo did a really crappy job with its State of Emergency lockdown during 2021, which pretty much just consisted of an alcohol prohibition and limiting operating hours for restaurants.
The residents of Tokyo did a much better job in the previous spring of 2020, pretty much self-imposed, with reduced operating hours (part-time jobs paused, so for once my students actually studied, probably because they were bored out of their minds), social-distance was socially imposed and the numbers of people were limited in public spaces like department stores and museums, and businesses and universties went online reducing the numbers of commuters on trains.
Back to 2021, despite the alcohol prohibition, businesses and universities started to go back to normal with people back to work at the office and more in-person live classes at the universities, both causing more crowded trains. Since the two earlier spikes, in late Dec - early Jan and April, correspond to the periods when university class were being held "hybrid/flex" (limited in-person live classes), as opposed to online only, I suspect that too is not a coincidence.
See also: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Tokyo-2020-Olympics/The-turbulent-journey-to-the-opening-of-Tokyo-2020
The Tokyo Olympics were held between 23 July and 8 August 2021.
The Summer Paralympics were held between 24 August and 5 September 2021, 16 days after the completion of the Olympics.
The spike in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo started late June (when the contestants began to arrive in Tokyo), peaking around September 9th or 10th, and continuing its transmission through late August.
AND YET, the politicians and the organizers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Organising Committee, insist that there was no correlation, and the IOC even praised the Tokyo Olympics for its safety measures in preventing the spread of COVID-19 (?!).
The Tokyo bid for the Olympics was riddled with disaster from the beginning.
The candidacy for Tokyo Olympics 2016 lost out to Rio, and while many thought this was fortunate due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake & tsunami and nuclear disaster, maybe had it been held in Tokyo then a percentage of the proceeds could have been donated to the recovery of Fukushima.
The beautiful "Blooming Logo" above was used for Tokyo's bid in 2011 for the 2020 Olympics, but unfortunately, it was not permitted to be used as the official logo for the "Tokyo Olympics 2020" proper.
The "Tokyo Olympics 2020" Logo Controversy
In 2015, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee revealed the logos for the Olympic and Paralympic Games designed by Kenjiro Sano. But, oops, Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed the logo was a copy of his design from 2013 for the Theatre de Liege. And, the Organising Committee was back to the drawing board, and decided to hold an open design competition to find the new logo. Out of nearly 15,000 submissions, of course, they chose the ugliest of the 4 finalists.
(For an excellent review of the controversy see: https://myfopinion.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/the-tokyo-2020-logo-controversy/ )
Then there was the controversy over the "neo-futuristic, 80,000-seat stadium designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid." Google it yourself.
There were also the bribery and heat issues... Anyhow, ...
In March 2020, the organising committee decided to postpone the Tokyo Olympics
Google it youself, but it is my understanding that while the Olympics have been cancelled previously, this is the first time they've been delayed by a year.
International Olympic Committee member says the Games will go on "barring Armageddon"
May 27: The head of a Japanese doctors' union says holding the Games in Tokyo could lead to the emergence of an "Olympic" coronavirus strain, but a senior International Olympic Committee member says the Games will go on "barring Armageddon".
July 8: Olympic organisers decide to hold the Tokyo Games without spectators under coronavirus restrictions as Japan struggles to stem a new wave of infections with a state of emergency in Tokyo.
-- https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tokyo-2020-timeline-2021-06-22/
Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo did a really crappy job with its State of Emergency lockdown during 2021, which pretty much just consisted of an alcohol prohibition and limiting operating hours for restaurants.
The residents of Tokyo did a much better job in the previous spring of 2020, pretty much self-imposed, with reduced operating hours (part-time jobs paused, so for once my students actually studied, probably because they were bored out of their minds), social-distance was socially imposed and the numbers of people were limited in public spaces like department stores and museums, and businesses and universties went online reducing the numbers of commuters on trains.
Back to 2021, despite the alcohol prohibition, businesses and universities started to go back to normal with people back to work at the office and more in-person live classes at the universities, both causing more crowded trains. Since the two earlier spikes, in late Dec - early Jan and April, correspond to the periods when university class were being held "hybrid/flex" (limited in-person live classes), as opposed to online only, I suspect that too is not a coincidence.
See also: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Tokyo-2020-Olympics/The-turbulent-journey-to-the-opening-of-Tokyo-2020
