The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are only two months away but residents are deeply divided on whether they should go ahead amid a fourth COVID wave and a renewed state of emergency restrictions.
We asked locals in Tokyo what they think. Here's what they said reut.rs/3oyZqKA 👇1/6
For sushi chef Takashi Yonehana, Japan's international reputation is at stake.
'If Japan becomes the first country to cancel the Olympics due to a pandemic, nobody will say it but everyone will think it ... it will damage our image,' he said 2/6
But retiree Mirei Sakai is adamant the Games should be called off.
'The pandemic is a terrible situation all over the world right now. In the middle of this, you'd invite foreigners over here ... I feel sorry for the athletes but it's unavoidable,' she said 3/6
'I think it may be hard for Japanese people to be pleased about these Games in their hearts,' restaurant owner Akihiro Takahashi said.
He would like the Games to take place but not this year 4/6
Kimono-clad Keiko Yamamura, a 58-year-old yoga instructor, is also conflicted.
'Variant strains could enter, creating a terrible situation ... But when I think of the athletes who have worked so hard, I'd like to let them do it,' she said 5/6
For some, the contrast with the 1964 Tokyo Games, a moment of national triumph for booming Japan, is stark.
'There's just no excitement. The mood now is almost like a wake,' said retiree Isao Kawada, soaking in a traditional public bath reut.rs/3oyZqKA @KimKYUNGHOON4 6/6
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