An Embraced Fierce Criticism of the Tokyo Olympics 2021

　　The 2021 Summer Olympic Games have been exposed to fierce criticism despite innocent participants putting in immeasurable effort to make the Tokyo Olympics 2021 a success. In fact, Tokyo is still in somewhat of a recovery process with an expected vaccination rate of under 30% of the entire population at the end of July. It is also currently still under its fourth declaration of emergency. In a questionnaire conducted by a third party, over 60% of people were shown to agree with the potential cancelling or postponing of the Tokyo Olympics 2021. According to this criticism, there is still a great deal of much-needed preparation in order to launch this massive summer event. However, these criticisms have begun to swell into baseless claims and extremism, potentially affecting Olympic integrity for the worst. It may indeed be brought about by the very few actors within the social media sphere, but it is certainly not a product of the  athletes or the over 80,000 Japanese volunteers.

　　The Tokyo Olympics 2021 has been submerged into an intensifying amount of impediments within a very short period, and this consists of factors such as handling issues under the pandemic, anti-Olympic movements, and the upcoming key election for both the Senate and the House following the Olympic Games. These issues have been constantly stirred within the figurative bowl of challenges facing the Tokyo Olympics 2021, and it is also a representation of the author’s sentiment. The author strongly suggests that the long-lasting integrity of the Olympics as a whole is at stake. Baseless claims and compromised truth within the media have caused both individuals and management teams to become unpredictably agitated. Now may be the time when media and SNS influencers should review methods of sharing their beliefs regarding the international event with the people.

　　Anti-Olympic activists exist. The IOC corruption theory was looked at concerning board members of this institution and potential wrongful earning. A photo of Thomas Bach was posted wherein he was disrespectfully painted with the word “Hiroshima” written in Katakana above his face. For the reader’s reference, Hiroshima is a Japanese city notable for the WWII atomic bomb attack that took place within its borders, and this is considered as an irrelevant topic of discussion regarding the Tokyo Olympics 2021.

This act of blatant disrespect is seen as effective in impacting Japanese social media, particularly in terms of conservatives who become ignited in overheated circumstances. In fact, there were a number of Tweets associated with this picture, and they seemed to receive much higher attention than normal postings.

　　The tweet that caused the figurative virus on the podium can be observed surrounding the account that posted the photo, and it can be thought of as having received a gold medal brought about by critics deploying IOC corruption theories. There has been little hesitation to employ the method of editing pictures for posting on social media, and this comes as a result of the immense amount of public attention surrounding such controversial content.

　　However, there is an aspect in the need of preservation that may be lost in this process, and that is the factor of the integrity of the Olympic Games. Athletes and volunteers do not fall into the scope of the IOC corruption theory. Respecting integrity is how we were taught, and our obligational values are what we should keep. In our manner of discussion, we must show a direction unlike what is observed on social media today. There are still human beings who are doing their best to ensure that this event takes place with tremendous safety. Among those efforts, the disrespectful posts on Twitter represent how nonsensical anti-Olympic activist claims truly are. These individuals undermine the quality of democracy through their manners of extremism.

　　Secondly, reserving the privilege  for the Tokyo Olympic 2020 to take place is a symbolic achievement brought on by Shinzo Abe’s second tenure as prime minister of Japan. For a decade, this unprecedented conservative cabinet was continually exposed to fierce criticism. Despite this fact, the Olympic Games may potentially be a target for adversary groups, including the minority party and liberal influencers in social media. Anti-Olympic action has been deployed following Abe’s resignation from the upcoming election scheduled to take place after the Tokyo Olympics 2021. In fact, the first group of endorsements was proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party – which dominated Japanese politics following WWII – on July 142021.  Proceeding with the launch of the Olympic Games can negatively impact political dominance, as even the most remote chance of incident could result in the party’s political downfall. I strongly believe that adversary groups and some cable television networks were arguing against the Olympics on a near daily basis, and this caused a serious accident where an individual shot a water gun to extinguish a fire during the torch relay. This terrible attack on Olympic integrity implies that the Olympic committee and its volunteers are no longer able to control these activists. Overheated journalism within a political context and the social media scope can induce abnormalities. It also causes an increase in security severity due to the resulting unpredictability.

　　Finally, the anti-vaccination movement emerged as a product of issues with manufacturers failing to disclose their accountability for vaccine disadvantages. I understand that there are traditional suspicions about any vaccination, and I am also aware that claims should be guaranteed under the freedom of speech. However, in this case, accepting it effectively counters the threat of the virus as a group. Without this measure, control over this global pandemic would be lost entirely. There was an article from overseas detailing that vaccinated individuals in Japan account for approximately 2% of the total population, and the author doubts that the Olympic Games will be held in this situation. Indeed, the conclusion can be drawn that the event must be canceled. However, at the time of this article’s publication, the vaccination rate in Japan is expected to be approximately 30%, which differs drastically from the current estimated rate. The anti-Olympic campaign is eventually transforming into a case that may waver the very basic concept of public health policy. This kind of theory has contagion; it spreads rapidly and is difficult to correct. A certain proportion of social media users seem to believe that the mRNA vaccines’ credibility is at stake.

　　Additionally, there has never been a case that the Olympic symbol, as this traditional one has already been abused at the hands of extremism than the Tokyo Olympic 2020. Just as five rings were fulfilled by nuclear marks, they may be connected to the hydrogenic explosion of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in 2011; five rings have been edited into the symbol as a canceling mark and as a method to agitate extremism. I have personally never experienced an edited Olympic symbol to claim a political belief. I also believe that this out of the scope of morals and done to keep international interests secure, particularly with the people who are waiting to watch a great international competition. However, this edited symbol may potentially deliver a powerful message on why the Olympic Games must be canceled. However, it also leads to strong emotion just as the initial case of using “Hiroshima” to spread a message; certain people will inevitably respond with intensity. This is the method in which violence grows, and it is also the reason why we cannot be aggressive as the adversaries. That would inevitably lead to a violence past the limits of control.

　　The passion to welcome world citizens to Japan for this summer event may be lost under the circumstances, and the author’s sincere hope is for volunteers to continue working towards their responsibility for all participants’ security. No one would wish for a serious accident to occur, and I believe their responsibility will be effective in preventing this. Despite this fact, now is the time to consider how to reduce the extremism occurring in cyberspace and on cable television. The anti-Olympic movement, political action for the coming election, and anti-vaccination activity must all be discussed securely under the freedom of speech. However, those rights must be conducted under the good intention for all people to be safe during the Olympic Games. For this to happen, influencers and activists must consider how contagious and how strong words and images truly are. Otherwise, we should take accountability and set a higher budget for security matters in these events, such as investing in law enforcement and police reform. To date, we have not actively pursued for the conducting  of democracy, and we should facilitate methods to overcome the obstacles under this pandemic in order to create and preserve a better quality of culture and manners for the next generation.