2021-05-14 16:05:59 GMT2021-05-15 00:05:59(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
TOKYO, May 14 (Xinhua) A Japanese lawyer, who launched an online petition calling for the cancelation of this summer s Olympics on Friday, implored Tokyo s government to cancel the Games, saying that protecting people s lives from COVID-19 should take precedence above all else.
The petition has received more than 350,000 signatures from Japan and overseas since it was launched on May 5, and its organizer Kenji Utsunomiya, a former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, told a press conference that holding the Olympics had once again become completely untenable. Holding the Olympics should be welcomed by everyone, but that is not possible under the current situation. So the Olympics must be canceled, Utsunomiya said after handing over the petition to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, with just 70 days to go until the scheduled opening of the already postponed Games.
Japanese lawyer implores Tokyo to cancel Olympics, 350,000 sign petition
Xinhua
15 May 2021, 02:18 GMT+10
TOKYO, May 14 (Xinhua) A Japanese lawyer, who launched an online petition calling for the cancelation of this summer s Olympics on Friday, implored Tokyo s government to cancel the Games, saying that protecting people s lives from COVID-19 should take precedence above all else. The petition has received more than 350,000 signatures from Japan and overseas since it was launched on May 5, and its organizer Kenji Utsunomiya, a former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, told a press conference that holding the Olympics had once again become completely untenable.
Tokyo Games: Japan expands coronavirus emergency as 350,000 sign Cancel Olympics petition
Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto told reporters she was aware of the concerns, but insisted strict rules would keep everyone safe. AFP
Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency Friday, just 10 weeks before the Olympics, as campaigners submitted a petition with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the Games to be scrapped.
With Tokyo and other areas already under emergency orders until the end of May, three more regions – including northern Hokkaido, which will host the Olympic marathon – now join them.
“Today, we decided to add Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima to the area under the state of emergency from May 16 to 31,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced at a virus taskforce meeting.
The widening emergency, aimed at combatting a fourth wave, is putting Japan s medical system under strain
AFP May 14, 2021
Only 23.9 percent of respondents in the three-day nationwide poll published Sunday said they wanted to see the 2020 Games held next year. PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO:
Japan s government is expected to widen a virus state of emergency Friday, just 10 weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, as campaigners submitted a petition with more than 350,000 signatures urging the Games be scrapped.
With Tokyo and other areas already under emergency orders until the end of May, three more regions including northern Hokkaido, which will host the Olympic marathon are set to join them.