Swift Olympic cancellation will boost Japan's soft power
On March 3, in response to the yearlong #KuToo protest against employers forcing working women to follow impractical dress codes, like mandatory high heels, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that this should not be allowed.
But he added that it was difficult for the government to make a final decision since private companies had their own rules on the high heels policy. It would require further discussion with all the parties involved.
Sound familiar? Abe hedging his bets here mirrors a problem as uncomfortable as a tightfitting stiletto: a final decision on whether to hold the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Given the spread of the coronavirus and reactive global lockdowns, it is not now a matter of if the Olympics will be canceled but when. Abe needs to get ahead of the situation by announcing the cancellation, or risk dawdling further and diminishing Japan's immense soft power.
Abe has been dodging making a decision while waiting for the World Health Organization or the International Olympic Committee to give him cover to cancel. But the WHO has had its agenda full since naming COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11. Worrying about whether or not Japan should host the Olympics is likely not high on its triage list of priorities.
The pandemic announcement was the perfect time for Japan's government to let word filter out that holding the Olympics in 2020 was in jeopardy. But Abe let the chance to signal leadership and national sacrifice quickly pass.
In its place came Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto saying that the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers are "not considering cancellation or a postponement, absolutely not at all."
Japanese public opinion has run past Abe: a Kyodo poll released on March 16 said 69.9% of those surveyed did not expect the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held as scheduled.
The rest of the world does not exactly look like it is concerned about the Olympics either.
On March 17, Japan's top ally and Abe's friend, President Donald Trump, told people not to gather in groups of more than 10, while U.S. cities and states have forced restaurants, bars and theaters to shut. Residents of one of America's most beloved cities, San Francisco, were told to "shelter in place."
Spain's 47 million citizens are on nationwide lockdown under orders of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, prompting the head of the Olympic Committee in Spain to call for the Olympics' postponement. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a similar measure, along with a mobilization of 100,000 police to enforce the restricted movement.
Japan's response to this united declaration of war on a virus and this violent altering of lifestyle? It held another news conference on Tokyo 2020 preparation buoyed by an IOC commitment to go forward.
Should Japan delay too much longer, it will create confusion and propagate a message that Japan thinks it is the exception to the new global rules of self-sacrifice and social isolation. It cannot keep planning a sports competition while top Olympic countries like China, the U.S., Italy, Spain, France and the U.K. have made staying at home the norm.
How Abe handles the final decision and announcement and its cascading consequences will reflect on Japan's leadership in future global matters and its preeminent soft power.
AP - Nov 26
Top diplomats from Japan and China met for bilateral talks Saturday as they try to resolve disputes including China's ban on Japanese seafood that has badly hit Japanese exporters.
Reuters - Nov 25
Japan passed on Friday an extra budget worth around 13.1 trillion yen ($88 billion) aimed at helping households cope with the rising cost of living and corporations boost domestic investment, even amid concerns over the country's worsening finances.
News On Japan - Nov 23
Japan hosted the "Self-Defense Forces Joint Exercise," from October 10, attended by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and the U.S. military. JNN reports on Japan's only elite unit, the 1st Airborne Brigade, during their training.
The Diplomat - Nov 23
Japan’s biggest defense company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has outlined plans for future growth through development investment in new major national defense projects, including standoff missiles and a joint next-generation fighter program with Britain and Italy.
NHK - Nov 22
North Korea's space agency says the country has launched a rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite and put it successfully into orbit.
Kyodo - Nov 22
A Japanese health ministry panel on Tuesday decided to ban HHCH, a synthetic cannabinoid, from Dec. 2 after many people who consumed gummies containing the compound had to go to the hospital.
dailymail.co.uk - Nov 22
The home of the US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel became the target of anti-Semitic vandals over the weekend who spray painted the word 'Nazis' on a fence outside his house in Michigan.
CNA - Nov 21
Japan has condemned the seizure of a Japanese-operated cargo ship by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, south of Israel.
AOL - Nov 19
Daisaku Ikeda, a former leader of Japan's influential Buddhist group Soka Gakkai, has died at the age of 95.
News On Japan - Nov 18
Edogawa Ward in Tokyo, which has the highest incidence of bicycle thefts in the city, announced the installation of 80 surveillance cameras in bicycle parking areas at private condominiums and other locations.
CCTV Video News Agency - Nov 18
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in San Francisco of the United States on Nov. 16, reaffirming the positioning of comprehensively advancing the strategic and mutually beneficial relations between China and Japan.
eurasiareview.com - Nov 18
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s inaugural two-day visit to Malaysia heralded a new strategic bulwark of defence and security criticality.
News On Japan - Nov 16
A car crashed into the barricades near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday morning, injuring a police officer.
NHK - Nov 15
Wednesday marks 46 years since a 13-year-old junior high school girl was kidnapped by North Korean agents.
NHK - Nov 14
Japan's government has approved the resignation of State Minister of Finance Kanda Kenji, who repeatedly failed to pay taxes for his company.
NHK - Nov 14
An NHK opinion poll shows the approval rate for the Cabinet of Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has fallen below 30 percent for the first time since he took office two years ago.