Leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, a poll showed this May that 83% of Japanese residents were opposed to hosting the Games. Since then, COVID-19 cases in Tokyo have climbed from around 400 a day to more than 3,000 on July 28. How are the locals feeling about the Olympics taking place during a state of emergency?
NBCLX storyteller Fernando Hurtado, covering the Olympics onsite, went to Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo to speak with locals and get their opinions on the Games and COVID-19.
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While mask-wearing is common in Japan, people there have less confidence in vaccines – 47% compared to 87% in Britain – contributing to Japan’s relatively low rate of fully vaccinated people, 27%.
Reactions to the Olympics among the people Hurtado spoke to were mixed, from “a little bit scared” to “very excited.”
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As one woman told Hurtado, “I think in any case, any decision [regarding holding the Olympics] could be criticized after. So rather than criticizing the government, we should think what we could do [to prevent the spread of COVID-19], how we could protect ourselves.”
