Tokyo Olympics: the Emperor of Japan worried about a "possible acceleration of infections"
Emperor Naruhito (center) has a symbolic but important role in Japan.
Rodrigo Reyes Marin POOL / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Unless one less than the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, on July 23, Emperor Naruhito has just announced that he was worried about the health situation in his country and "
concerned about the risk of a possible acceleration of infections following the Games
”.
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With our correspondent in Tokyo,
Bruno Duval
This position taken by the sovereign embarrasses the government and the organizers of the event.
It also upsets the constitutionalists.
But many Japanese share Naruhito's fears and therefore do not hold him against him for having violated his duty of reserve.
The Emperor of Japan is in fact not authorized to make remarks of a political or institutional nature.
This is why in 2016, Akihito, Naruhito's father, could not explicitly ask that he be
allowed to abdicate
.
He had just expressed his fears of not being able to perform his duties for long, given his advanced age and health problems.
He had just expressed his fears of not being able to perform his duties for long, given his advanced age and health problems.
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: Tokyo 2021: the Olympic Games still divide one month from the opening
It is therefore indirectly, through the voice of his closest advisor that his son, Emperor Naruhito, has now made known his feelings towards the Olympic Games. His reported remarks annoy the government but, for many Tokyoites, the emperor did well to pronounce: "
The holding of these Games in such a health context worries the Japanese," confides one of them. That the emperor himself is not reassured, that seems quite normal to me.
"
"
The emperor wants to be close to people, just like his father was,"
assures a resident of the Japanese capital
.
He would therefore like all measures to be taken to prevent these Olympics from endangering their health.
I find it very good that he makes it understood.
"
“
Naruhito is right,”
adds another Tokyoite.
We must redouble precautions so that these Games do not precipitate our country in a fifth wave of the epidemic.
And it is good that he recalls it now since, between now and the opening ceremony, we have time to refine the sanitary system if it turns out to be necessary.
"
Eight out of ten respondents fear that the Tokyo Games will relaunch the epidemic.
Especially since to date, only 10% of Japanese have been vaccinated.
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