I witnessed the resignation of a number of them
Japan's hosting of the Olympics is a bad omen for prime ministers
Corona virus infections are increasing in Japan, while part of the public has criticized the holding of the Olympic Games.
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Suga prepares for a similar fate to his Olympic predecessors.
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Whenever Olympics are held in Japan, and the prime minister whose term coincides with those games has since resigned, the Olympics have been a bad omen for the prime ministers of these countries.
The question now is: Will Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga be able to overcome this jinx and continue in office after the end of his term as Chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and thus as Prime Minister?
With the Summer Olympics kicking off in Tokyo, Suga is trying to create the conditions to boost his administration's popularity, in preparation for both the upcoming House elections, which will be called by the fall, and the LDP's presidential election, also scheduled for the fall.
In the past, there was a different story of resignations of prime ministers during the Olympic Games hosted by Japan in Tokyo in 1964 between October 10-24, in Sapporo in 1972 between February 3-13, and in Nagano in 1998 from February 7-22.
The 1964 Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo - the first to be held in Asia - when Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda was in office, and soon after taking office in 1960, he began a plan to double income, deciding to use the Olympics as a tool to stimulate economic growth .
He promoted massive infrastructure projects such as the Tokaido Shinkansen Express Line and the Tokyo Metropolitan Express.
The 1964 Olympics symbolized a period of surging economic growth in Japan.
But in September 1964, just a month before the games' opening ceremony, Ikeda was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with cancer, but was not told or the public at first, and Ikeda temporarily left the hospital to attend the opening ceremony with the permission of his doctors.
Needing further treatment, he resigned the day after the closing ceremony, on October 25, and died the following year.
During the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, Eisaku Sato was prime minister, and in May of that year he achieved the goal to which he had devoted his entire political life: the return of Okinawa from US control, and the day after the regular session of the Diet ended in June He announced his resignation.
Okinawa's return to Japan became the great achievement of ending his long tenure - seven years and eight months - as prime minister.
resignation
At the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998, then-Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto had high expectations that the Games would "help the Japanese economy recover" and thus raise the administration's popularity ratings.
But the Liberal Party suffered a heavy loss in the House of Councilors elections five months later, and to take responsibility for the loss, Hashimoto was forced to resign.
The association of the Prime Minister’s resignation with the Olympic Games also coincided with the years in which the Olympic Games were scheduled to be held in Japan, before the “Corona” epidemic struck the world, and we still have in our minds the resignation of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who left office in August 2020 due to the deterioration of the situation. His health condition coincided with the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cabinet change
In 1940, when the Tokyo Games and the Sapporo Winter Games were canceled due to World War II, the prime minister changed twice.
Suga's current term as head of the LDP expires at the end of September. He indicated that he intends to dissolve the House of Representatives during his term and seek re-election as head of the Liberal Democratic Party. There have been no moves to bring down Suga within the party, and no internal rival has emerged for him so far. But infections with the Corona virus are increasing, and part of the public criticized the holding of the Olympic Games at a time when Tokyo entered a state of emergency due to the Corona virus. Public opinion polls, conducted by several media outlets in July, showed the approval rating for the Suga Cabinet at an all-time low. The future seems uncertain to him.
In an interview in the July 20 issue of Sports Hochi, Suga said, "I want to make games the talk of the people in order to move forward."
It seems that the Prime Minister aims to achieve a successful breakthrough from the “Corona” crisis with the Tokyo Olympics, but a source close to the Liberal Democratic Party said before the opening of the Olympics, “I wonder if we will be able to reach the end of the Games with fewer infections than we expected from the Corona virus.” ».
If the number of daily infections reaches 3,000 or 4,000 in Tokyo, the prime minister will have to step down.”
In Tokyo, 4,058 people were confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus on July 31, exceeding 4,000 for the first time.
The number rose again to 4,166 on August 4.
During the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics it was then-Prime Minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, who had high expectations that the Games would "help the recovery of the Japanese economy" and thus raise the administration's popularity ratings. But the Liberal Party suffered a heavy loss in the House of Councilors elections five months later, and to take responsibility for the loss, Hashimoto was forced to resign.
During the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, Isako Sato was prime minister, and in May of that year he achieved the goal to which he had devoted his entire political life: the return of Okinawa from US control, and the day after the regular session of the Diet ended in June He announced his resignation.
• Coinciding with the start of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Suga is trying to create the conditions to boost his administration's popularity in preparation for the elections.
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