My Tokyo 2021 January – How Is the NEW Olympic Year Going in Japan?
Happy New Year! I’m so happy to see you again in 2021!
2021 is really a big year for Tokyo because, as you know, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games got postponed to 2021 (for the first time in the Olympic history!). Everyone’s question is clear; will the Olympic Games be held?
Now I’d like to tell you what happened to ME in the January of the Olympic year!
Contents
What Happened to My Concert Ticket
I was so excited when I bought the New Year concert ticket last autumn.
There weren’t so many coronaviruses strolling around in Japan at that time, so people had a feeling that the nightmare would fade away day by day. I was one of them. I believed I would spend a wonderful New Year’s Day in the fantastic concert hall after the difficult year.
But things changed in December. More and more people caught the coronavirus throughout Japan and the “new record” was broken everyday. In late December, more than 3000 people got the virus per a day in Japan. Instead of the positive feelings in autumn, people’s worry and depressed atmosphere grew day by day. In mid December, I started to wonder if the concert would be on or not.
Then, finally the answer came to my mailbox. The concert got CANCELED because the Austrian orchestra wouldn’t be able to come to Japan.
When I received the letter from the concert hall, I was rather relieved. They gave us money back, and more importantly, can it be a situation to enjoy a new year with musicians? The orchestra chief says that they are so sad but they put priority on life, too.
Time never stops and 2021 began. There is a custom among Japanese people to pray for a good year at a shinto shrine or Buddhist temple on New Year’s Day, but they didn’t encouraged people to visit them to keep social distance.
So I had nowhere to go on New Year’s Day. I was in a daze at home – that was my 2021 New Year.
At the point of January 2021, an orchestra can’t hold their concert in a foreign country. Can Olympic athletes come from all over the world to Tokyo in summer? …I don’t know. I can’t see the future at all. How about you?
National Emergency Again
On 7 January, 2021, the Japanese government declared “national emergency” again. On that day, more than 7000 people caught the coronavirus in Japan – it was a “new record” again. (See Yahoo! Japan to see the graph.)
Ah… I suppose some of you imagined “lock down” that has done in some European countries, but actually, it is not. The government just “requests” citizens to avoid going out as possible, closing restaurants at night, use some online workplace at home, etc.
When things went wrong in December, Prime Minister Suga (he’s the new prime minister after Abe) didn’t do anything at that time. Things got even worse, so he had to PRETEND to be serious in January. In my opinion, they are playing politician like little children in a backyard garden, not real mature politicians…
The big problem is that there isn’t any duty by the law, so the compensation to citizens is far from being enough. The government is just “asking”, so the stores, services, restaurants, etc, are regarded that they closed kind of VOLUNTARILY. I wrote this last year as well, but it’s really a dirty trick! Do you remember that I reported closed stores in Takeshita Street in Harajuku? That’s all because of the pathetic politicians.
I think every country has its own difficulty about politics. Japan does, too. I think your country’s newspapers and writers describe the details, but Japan has some difficult history in the past, and the difficulty in politics still remain. This time, the difficulty directly hit common people when we confronted the “emergency”. Lesson: We had to make and keep politics clean since normal times.
My Rugby Ticket Again
Well, do you remember World’s First Review of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium that I wrote last January? I got the Inter University Rugby Final ticket to enter the brand new Olympic Stadium!
Last January, no one in the world imagined Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would be postponed. And I was one of the very normal people.
It was a wonderful experience for me to visit the new stadium and write an article here on my own blog, so I planned to do it once again in 2021. It’s just wonderful to take fresh photos there, upload them here and write things like, “2020 was dark times, but 2021 will be beautiful!” So I bought the ticket last autumn.
Prime Minister Suga showed up on TV and declared “national emergency” before the rugby match scheduled on 11 January.
……..
The match was held as scheduled, but I got the money back (fortunately) and stayed at home on that day again.
That’s why this article has no pic!!
Will Tokyo Olympic Games Be Held?
I think “Will Tokyo Olympic Games be held?” is the big question that everyone wants to know the answer. Some of you came to my sites because you got the Tokyo 2020 Olympic ticket, didn’t you?
I want the answer, too!!!!!
I’m living in Tokyo, but I don’t have any hint about the question. The Olympic Committee people don’t show up and medias are so quiet that they don’t expose any prospects.
You may expect a Tokyo local to know what’s going on about the Olympic Games, but this is the reality in Tokyo. I… I wanted to tell you some fantastic latest information from the viewpoint of a local blogger, but I don’t have anything I can tell you…
Everyone is Safe around Me
Yes, fortunately, nobody caught the new coronavirus around me. I’m completely safe, too.
And I wish you are, too. Stay safe!
Dear Myself in August
For the first time in Tokyo Direct Diary, I’d like to conclude this article by writing a letter to myself in 8 months.
Dear me in August,
How is the coronavirus? I wish it’s all cleared up and people all over the world are happy under the sun again. It’s January 2021 now and people’s hope is on the vaccine. I wish everyone has got it and the world has recovered from the crisis.
And was the Olympic Games held or canceled? Did you see the Olympic Games? It’s January 2021 now and I can’t foresee anything about Tokyo 2020 (2021?) Olympic Games. I’m really curious about it, so PLEASE tell me!!
Anyway, take care!
Cheers,
Kozue in January
Helpful Links
Takeshita Street in a Crisis! – COVID-19 Impact on Harajuku
