A symbolic start to Tokyo's delayed 2020 Games

Usually, the torch relay is supposed to generate enthusiasm in the population of Olympic host countries. The lit flame crosses the nation en route to the stadium for the opening ceremony. But the organizers of Tokyo 2020, as the 2021 edition of the summer games continues to be called, have had to adopt all kinds of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus — and that has dampened the national mood in Japan.

There will be no jubilant spectators for the official start on Thursday. Only a few guests, including the organizing committee's new president, Seiko Hashimoto, will look on as members of the women's soccer team light the torch with the Olympic flame, which arrived from Greece last year. Others will have to watch the live ceremony on TV or online. 

Most Japanese people will also have to resort to small screens to follow the relay over the next 121 days, until the games are launched on July 23. People lucky enough to watch a leg or two in person will have to wear masks and observe social distancing rules. They will not be allowed to shout enthusiastically, but clapping will be allowed. 

Quarantine before carrying

The 10,000 torchbearers have been asked to quarantine for two weeks before their legs. The uncertainty and strict precautionary measures have led many prominent athletes to cancel their participation, including the figure skater Shoma Uno and Homare Sawa, the captain of Japan's women's soccer team, which won the World Cup in 2011. 

But the schedule itself has not changed. In Hiroshima, the first city ever to be targeted by a nuclear bomb, on August 6, 1945, a female athlete will cross the river in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, swimming in a classical Japanese style and holding the torch in her hand. In Hokkaido, the flame will be carried by a torchbearer traveling in a horse-drawn sled. Kane Tanaka, the oldest verified living person in the world, will also take part and carry the flame for 100 meters (330 feet) if possible. She will be 118 years and 129 days old on the day of her leg.

Epidemiologists have warned that it would have been better to cancel the torch relay entirely. Not even 1% of Japan's population has been vaccinated, and variants of the coronavirus continue to spread. The state of emergency was only lifted in the Tokyo metropolitan region last weekend. But the organizers of Tokyo 2020 want to send out a signal that there is no turning back at this point — as well as to test safety measures. "The torch relay means that the chances of the games' being canceled are very low," said Barbara Holthus, the deputy director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies, who has copublished a book about Tokyo 2020. 

'Transform their concerns'

According to polls, two-thirds of Japanese people are in favor of postponing or even canceling the Olympics, but the organizers are hoping to change their minds with the torch relay. "There was enthusiasm on the part of the people before the pandemic," said Hashimoto, the Tokyo 2020 president . "We should bring back this feeling and transform their concerns into anticipation." 

The organizers have taken people's greatest concerns into account by only allowing Olympic athletes and support staff into Japan. "The population would not have agreed to reopening the borders that have been closed for a year," Holthus said.

With all that is going on, the Hope Lights Our Way slogan is not very convincing. Japan initially applied to host the 2020 Summer Olympics after the catastrophic earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of Fukushima of 2011. The idea was that they would symbolize reconstruction and the torch relay would express Japan's gratitude to the world for its help.

Fukushima and COVID-19

The J-Village soccer facility, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, was chosen as the starting point of the torch relay. In 2011, it was the temporary headquarters of the nuclear plant's operator, TEPCO, and served as a base for cleanup efforts after the disaster. Workers would use the site to change into protective clothing before going to the contaminated nuclear site. Now, young footballers use it to train.

The organizers have now shifted the focus away from post-Fukushima reconstruction to triumph over the pandemic. This has not proved convincing, considering the fact that nobody from abroad, including the athletes' relatives and most volunteers, will be able to attend the games. 

"The Olympic ideal of international understanding won't be fulfilled if foreigners can't come and the athletes aren't allowed to be in contact with those from other nations," Holthus said.

This article has been translated from German.