Forum - View topicJapanese Gov't Denies Report it is No Longer Considering Tokyo Olympics This Year, Aiming for 2032 G
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HakaHina
Posts: 7 |
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While I do think the Olympics should be canceled in the face of an uncontrolled pandemic, it’s personally sad to see all efforts of planning for hosting of visitors go to waste. I lived in Kofu from 2014-2018 and saw the city’s years-long construction in anticipation for tourists who might want to see Mt. Fuji, which resulted in a new and modernized bus center and improved foreigner-friendly services. Sure, the Olympics can go virtual with limited attendance, but the funds that went into all the improvements in the hopes of a huge tourism boom won’t be recouped.
Not to mention its secondary effects on positive changes in culture; Hottarakashi Onsen, in the years I was there, amended its tattoo policies in order to facilitate a future influx of foreigners, which is a good step in accepting diversity. But who knows if other onsens will even consider these changes anymore if there’s no longer any need to do so with lowered levels of tourists. |
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SHD
Posts: 1752 |
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I don't think this is something that could reasonably be considered "a waste" though, even if the Olympics is cancelled. Regardless of the Olympics being held or not, tourism will pick up eventually, sooner or later, and casual tourists will prefer places that are more accommodating. To say nothing of the benefits of improved services for the local residents. Anyway, I'm also on the opinion that the Olympics should be just cancelled, end of story. Yes, it'd be a blow to the athletes (many of whom wouldn't be able to compete in the next games) and the economy would miss out on the influx of money. And that sucks. But the vaccine is not magic (especially with the new virus variants cropping up lately), vaccination is obviusly not going fast enough to cover everyone who might be involved with the events (remember, it's not just the athletes), and just imagining trying to manage the virus during such a huge event stresses me out. And that's just the people involved with the athletes and holding the sporting events - there's also the visitors, the services catering to them, and so on and so forth, it's just a nightmare. Plus, so many athletes wouldn't attend anyway, out of fear of the pandemic. I think everyone is perfectly aware that there shouldn't be any Olympics this year, and Tokyo is just trying to delay the inevitable, like last year. It would be much more fair, for everyone, if they just said "okay guys, let's just not do this one." |
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HakaHina
Posts: 7 |
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You’d be right if the local culture didn’t rely on the immediate benefit of tourism that the Olympics would have brought in; that was the main goal of the revitalization anyways, to improve the inflow of economic money so that already struggling local shops like inden, tori motsu, and houtou centered around the main station didn’t feel any more pressure to shut down (which was seen in some shops already last year in April after the cancellation of one other big tourist attraction, the Shingen-ko festival, which draws in a surprisingly high amount of foreigners due to it being a world record event). While not representative of the entire majority of Yamanashi’s population, the people I still keep in touch with there do consider it a definite waste as much of the changes were meant for a foreign audience rather than for locals, and although tourism will eventually pick back up again, it won’t do so fast enough. I’d doubt Japan will even reach half the level of tourism pre-covid by the end of 2021 with the slow rate of vaccination and the appearance of more resistant strains seen in Tokyo during the start of the year. What then of the livelihoods of the YSGG group, people who are part of the local shop culture and who were trained in translation and foreign concierge by the ALT community in Yamanashi so that they can have more income for their struggling businesses? Is that not considered an absolute waste? I don’t mean to antagonize if my post seems that way, I’m just frustrated for all my friends back there in Kofu who are clearly struggling right now with the lack of tourists; sure tourism will pick back up again, but at that point, will it really matter when businesses are gone? Also, to clarify, I’m not advocating for more tourists during a pandemic, that would be a severe violation of global health standards, and I would rather people stay in their own countries for now (the new Tokyo strain wouldn’t have come over from Europe if this was much more enforced). Rather, I just feel frustrated at an inevitable situation where people’s businesses are slowly left to die and the one thing that would have potentially saved them is taken away. |
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Aresef
Posts: 909 Location: MD |
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I frankly don't see how the games are going to be feasible.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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Jose Cruz, This is the second time you've made an utterly facutally wrong, and/or downright tactless post regarding covid. I suggest you forgo any further comment on the topic in any discussions since you obviously are not interested in facts and simply want to spread misinformation.
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