When 2020 Tokyo Olympics open, Emperor Naruhito who is now in power in Japan will have two opportunities to receive award from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The two awards are opening the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Emperor Naruhito, now 61 years old, was awarded the Chrysanthemum Crown on May 1, 2019.
To this day, Emperor Naruhito is considered a patron or model for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Emperor Naruhito is the third emperor to receive the Olympic award. However, Naruhito is the first emperor to receive awards for both the Olympic and Paralympic organizers.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will take place from 23 July 2021 to 8 August 2021. Meanwhile, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics will take place from 24 August 2021 to 5 September 2021.
Emperor Naruhito’s father, Emperor Akihito declared the opening of the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998. Meanwhile, his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito, proclaimed the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Emperor Hirohito also opened the Sapporo Winter Olympics in 1972.
Meanwhile, there is only a week until the opening of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Friday. (23/7/2021), Japan awaits Emperor Naruhito’s blessing for the event. “The Emperor is likely to be present at the opening of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said an unnamed source on Friday (16/7/2021).
However, after Emperor Naruhito’s blessing comes out, the royal party will not watch the matches live. The reason is, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will run without the presence of spectators.
The city of Tokyo entered the fourth time the Covid-19 emergency status starting Monday (12/7/2021). “This determination is an effort to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Yoshihide Suga reminded Japanese citizens in his official statement. The fourth status has a validity period until Sunday (22/8/2021). This status is an extension of the third status which expires on Sunday (11/7/2021).
Just like in the previous Covid-19 emergency status, the policy of limiting community activities is also ongoing. In addition to the extension of the Covid-19 state of emergency for Tokyo and Okinawa, four prefectures, namely Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, and Osaka, were also affected by this policy. “Policies in the four prefectures have been extended until Sunday (22/8/2021),” said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. This policy, of course, affected the Tokyo Olympics.
Last week, the policy that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics would take place without spectators had been decided by stakeholders including the Japanese government, Tokyo 2020, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). “The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be held without spectators,” said Tokyo 2020 organizer CEO Seiko Hashimoto. Meanwhile, the status of the Covid-19 emergency which expires on Sunday (11/7/2021) night are Hokkaido, Aichi, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Fukuoka.
In all prefectures with Covid-19 emergency status, restrictions are placed on, among other things, public eating places. “Must close at 8:00 pm,” said Yoshihide Suga. In Tokyo, commercial locations must close at 8:00 pm. Moreover, during the Covid-19 emergency, the government prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages.
However, this rule received waivers. “The sale of alcoholic beverages is permitted until 7:00 p.m.,” the prefectural governments said in a statement. According to records, PM Yoshihide Suga implemented the Covid-19 emergency status for the first time for Tokyo in April 2020. Then, the policy was repeated again in January 2021. For the third time, the same status will apply in June 2021.
Now, for the fourth time, the status has been extended until August 2021. Recent records show that in Tokyo, the number of new Covid-19 cases will increase to 1,000 cases by the end of July 2021. According to Professor Yuki Furuse’s prediction, it is highly likely that new cases will also jump the number to 2,000 by the end of August. Yuki Furuse is a professor from Kyoto University who is an expert for the Japanese government in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
