Where will the Tokyo Olympics go after the double "earthquake"

　　■Our reporter Wu Yulun

　　On February 12, the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Yoshiro Mori resigned; on February 13, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 occurred in the offshore area of ​​Fukushima, Japan, causing more than 150 injuries-only five months from the opening of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23. The Olympic torch, which started in Fukushima on March 25th, was passed in less than six weeks. After the double "earthquakes", where will the ill-fated Tokyo Olympics go?

　　The chair of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee has been vacant for six days

　　On February 3, Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, made a statement that "many women attended meetings for too long", which caused a huge controversy in public opinion.

Although Yoshiro Mori held an apology press conference afterwards, his bad attitude towards reporters has added fuel to the fire.

390 volunteers announced their withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics, two torchbearers gave up participating in the torch relay, and the International Olympic Committee also criticized Mori's remarks through the official website... Under the pressure of public opinion both inside and outside, Mori finally ended on February 12 Formally resigned.

　　Yoshiro Mori’s forced resignation also meant that the four main figures who led Tokyo’s bid for the Olympics were all "out"-in December 2013, Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose resigned on suspicion of receiving illegal political donations; March 2019, Japan The president of the Olympic Committee and the chairman of the Tokyo bid committee, Tsuneka Taketa, was sued by French police for allegedly bribing the former chairman of the World Athletics Federation Diac during the bidding process, and then resigned. Last year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned due to a relapse.

　　The ouster of Yoshiro Mori does not mean that the difficulties faced by the Tokyo Olympics will be solved.

Only five months before the opening, the post of Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee chairman cannot be vacant, but the nomination and selection work has stalled.

　　Before his resignation, Yoshiro Mori strongly recommended the Tokyo Olympic athlete village chief and former chairman of the Japanese Football Association Saburo Kawabuchi to take over, and did a persuasive job. Kawabuchi also accepted group interviews from the Japanese media as a "quasi-chairman."

But this handover was rejected by the Japanese government: First, 84-year-old Kawabuchi replaced 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori. This kind of "advanced shift" is really not positive enough; second, the wrongful former chairman appointed a successor and was also rejected Public opinion unanimously criticized it as "opaque."

　　According to the information disclosed at the first meeting of the "(Chairman) Candidate Selection Committee" of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee on February 16, Japanese officials are very likely to choose a woman to serve. This is also the best plan to calm the Mori turmoil.

The 56-year-old Japanese Cabinet Minister of the Olympic Games Hashimoto Seiko, and the 54-year-old Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Sports Director Otani Mikako became the most popular candidates.

　　The selection committee held its second meeting on February 17, and immediately after the meeting, Seiko Hashimoto was selected as the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee.

However, many Japanese media revealed that Hashimoto may have no intention of assuming this position.

Whether she takes over this "hot potato" or not, no matter who will be at the helm of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee in the future, she will face no small trouble.

　　Although the situation of the epidemic has improved, Japanese public opinion is still bad news

　　Just one day after Yoshiro Mori took the blame and resigned, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred in the offshore area of ​​Fukushima, Japan.

Originally a symbol of post-earthquake revival, Fukushima will usher in the first torch relay of the Tokyo Olympics on March 25.

Ten years ago, the shadow of the Fukushima nuclear accident has not disappeared. The Fukushima earthquake that occurred suddenly on February 13 added more uncertainty to the Tokyo Olympics.

　　The Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee confirmed that the Fukushima National Football Training Center, the starting point of the Olympic torch relay, was not damaged in the earthquake. The earthquake affected the Fukushima Prefecture Toma Stadium, Sendai Prefecture Miyagi Stadium and the Miyagi Stadium that will host the Olympic Games in the area. Kashima Stadium in Ibaraki Prefecture was also undamaged.

Although Japanese officials say that the earthquake will not cause a tsunami, the earthquake has caused more than 150 people to be injured. The Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants have both slightly leaked, which still raises concerns about the Tokyo Olympics.

　　The biggest problem for the Tokyo Olympics is still the uncertain situation of the new crown epidemic and huge domestic public opinion pressure.

Judging from the domestic situation in Japan, the epidemic situation is developing in a positive direction.

On the one hand, Japan’s daily new coronavirus cases have dropped from the highest peak of 7855 in January this year, and are currently between 1500 and 2000; on the other hand, Japan officially launched the new crown vaccine on February 17. Vaccination action.

According to Reuters, although Japan is far behind other regions in launching vaccines, it has ordered 145 million new crown vaccines from the United Kingdom and the United States, which means that Japan is expected to achieve full vaccination before the Olympic Games, thereby achieving herd immunity. .

However, many Japanese media and experts still believe that once the Olympic Games needs to open the door to welcome guests, it may bring huge uncertainty.

　　At the same time, public opinion in Japan is increasingly declining the prospects of the Olympics.

The latest survey released on the 15th by the well-known Japanese think tank Tokyo Commerce and Industry Survey shows that more than half of Japanese companies believe that the Tokyo Olympics should be cancelled or postponed, and only 7.7% of the interviewed companies believe that it should proceed as planned.

The torch relay that is about to spread across Japan is also facing heavy pressure.

Shimane Prefecture Governor Maruyama also said yesterday that he was very dissatisfied with the epidemic prevention measures of the Japanese central government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Shimane Prefecture should not hold the torch relay at the risk of spreading the epidemic.

The President of Japan's National Governors Association and Governor of Tokushima Prefecture Iizumi Yoshimitsu also responded. He urged the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee to issue a specific torch relay plan under the new crown epidemic as soon as possible.

　　Just like the many twists and turns that have occurred over the past year or so, the prospect of the Tokyo Olympics has once again cast a shadow.