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Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

japantoday.com

21–30 of 196 posts

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#21

This seems like the worst outcome for Japan and best outcome for the IOC. Japan incurs all the cost of hosting the Olympics while reaping none of the tourist yen, while the IOC gets paid the broadcasting fee. At this point the optimal outcome for Japan is probably to cancel the game altogether. Is it an example of the political pull of the IOC? The Asian culture of face-saving? Or plain old sunk cost fallacy? I hones…

Perhaps it gives the population something to look forward to.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#22
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty brutal for the athletes to move the Olympics. It's already such a rare event that having a delay of even a year will mean some of them are missing what would have been their peak year physically - the more you delay it the worse that gets.

The past year has been brutal for the entire world, and holding a championship for professional athletes doesn't really justify the billions of dollars Japan has lost in its decision to postpone the Olympics rather than cancel them. Japan isn't even currently granting long-term work visas for professionals who will contribute to the economy for multiple years, ostensibly to curb spread of the virus. Consequently, it'…

>Japan isn't even currently granting long-term work visas for professionals who will contribute to the economy for multiple years

People are still able to move to Japan and visas are being granted. There's just a 2 week quarantine when people arrive.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#23

This seems like the worst outcome for Japan and best outcome for the IOC. Japan incurs all the cost of hosting the Olympics while reaping none of the tourist yen, while the IOC gets paid the broadcasting fee. At this point the optimal outcome for Japan is probably to cancel the game altogether. Is it an example of the political pull of the IOC? The Asian culture of face-saving? Or plain old sunk cost fallacy? I hones…

I think you mean "tourist dollars", not "tourist yen". The former, both literally and metaphorically, is what they're losing and what they would presumably prefer. The latter is much less attractive--akin to moving money from one kimono sleeve to another--but without foreigners, "tourist yen" is all they end up with.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#24
post #23

This seems like the worst outcome for Japan and best outcome for the IOC. Japan incurs all the cost of hosting the Olympics while reaping none of the tourist yen, while the IOC gets paid the broadcasting fee. At this point the optimal outcome for Japan is probably to cancel the game altogether. Is it an example of the political pull of the IOC? The Asian culture of face-saving? Or plain old sunk cost fallacy? I hones…

I think you mean "tourist dollars", not "tourist yen". The former, both literally and metaphorically, is what they're losing and what they would presumably prefer. The latter is much less attractive--akin to moving money from one kimono sleeve to another--but without foreigners, "tourist yen" is all they end up with.

Like the dollars all those Europeans are bringing?

I get that there is a grain of truth in what you are saying but this is mostly an outdated mode of thinking. The Japanese economy has plenty of access to $ denominated capital markets if they wanted $.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#25
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The past year has been brutal for the entire world, and holding a championship for professional athletes doesn't really justify the billions of dollars Japan has lost in its decision to postpone the Olympics rather than cancel them. Japan isn't even currently granting long-term work visas for professionals who will contribute to the economy for multiple years, ostensibly to curb spread of the virus. Consequently, it'…

>Japan isn't even currently granting long-term work visas for professionals who will contribute to the economy for multiple years People are still able to move to Japan and visas are being granted. There's just a 2 week quarantine when people arrive.

No, this is not true. There was a brief period from October-December where they began to issue work and student visas again, and I was let in to the country on a work visa during this time.

However, on December 28, due to rising case numbers, Japan declared another national state of emergency and stopped issuing new visas. My partner has a job offer in Japan, but is currently unable to join me / start work due to the stoppage of new visas.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#26
post #21

This seems like the worst outcome for Japan and best outcome for the IOC. Japan incurs all the cost of hosting the Olympics while reaping none of the tourist yen, while the IOC gets paid the broadcasting fee. At this point the optimal outcome for Japan is probably to cancel the game altogether. Is it an example of the political pull of the IOC? The Asian culture of face-saving? Or plain old sunk cost fallacy? I hones…

Perhaps it gives the population something to look forward to.

We arnt looking forward to it. We never really wanted it.

Edit: sorry that's a bit generic, but I have never heard anyone say they are looking forward to the Olympics locally, pre covid, and post, I hear a lot of people wtf'ing it's going ahead.

It's completely anecdotal, but as a private teacher at 4 different schools I have a wide pool.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#27
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is outdated speculation. The preponderance of current evidence points toward what we expect from previous vaccines -- once you've been immunized, you are incredibly unlikely to transmit the virus to others: https://reason.com/2021/03/08/contrary-to-what-the-cdcs-new-... In fact, the CDC just updated it's own guidelines to reflect these same facts: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/0... I…

So no need to wear a mask then.

Yes this is actually correct.

Continuing to wear a mask in public is about compliance, not safety per se: if exceptions were made for the vaccinated, people who just don't want to wear a mask would be hard to separate from those who are no longer at risk of catching or spreading the disease.

As someone who has had natural immunity (it sucked, made a full recovery) for most of the pandemic, this has been on my mind, since masking is purely cosmetic for me.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#28
post #15

> it peaked at more than 2,500 cases per day in Tokyo That's 0.027% of the population of Tokyo per day in a city that has over 6,000 people packed in per square kilometer. By comparison, Idaho has a population density of 7.64 people per square kilometer, and right now the infection rate there is 0.021% of its population per day. That's only a 30% difference in percentage of population infected per day, but there are…

> Whatever Tokyo is doing to keep COVID under control with such a crazy high population density, it looks like we've got an entire state over here in the U.S. that could still learn some of the basics. I lived in Japan, have many friends there whom I keep in touch with, and watch the local news regularly. The restrictions in the major cities have been substantially fewer than we've had here in the US. There have been…

It’s true that Japan has done many non-optimal things, but the biggest difference from the west IMO is that there has been close to 100% mask usage (eyeballing in Tokyo, about 95% surgical masks) for over a year now. Any Japanese who see things like Idaho’s recent mask burning protests are simply bewildered. Of course, people take their masks off when eating out, but still keep them on while ordering and waiting for food, and the “3C’s” messaging has also focused on improved ventilation in buildings and vehicles while this was ignored in many other countries (seems like pretty basic stuff for a highly contagious respiratory virus).

The mix of policies (specifically the lack of testing and rapid testing) has led to Japan being one of the least effective East Asian countries in containing COVID (just compare it to Taiwan, South Korea, or China), but leagues better than the west. Some of that calculus has changed with B117 and other variants, especially those that spread more with children, you’re seeing now reports of community spread of these variants in schools being reported (Japan’s focus in cluster tracing, while it has been overwhelmed at times I believe can also be given a lot of credit for keeping numbers much lower than they would otherwise be).

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#29
post #26
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps it gives the population something to look forward to.

We arnt looking forward to it. We never really wanted it. Edit: sorry that's a bit generic, but I have never heard anyone say they are looking forward to the Olympics locally, pre covid, and post, I hear a lot of people wtf'ing it's going ahead. It's completely anecdotal, but as a private teacher at 4 different schools I have a wide pool.

I live and work in the Tokyo area, and my anecdata are similar to yours. Of the hundreds of people I know through work or private life, exactly two ever mentioned looking forward to the games, most seemed uninterested and passively resigned, and a few have been actively opposing them. The percentages would probably break down somewhat differently, though, if I knew more people in the travel industry or people whose primary information feed comes from the mainstream media, which were enthusiastic about the games up until COVID.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#30
post #24
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean "tourist dollars", not "tourist yen". The former, both literally and metaphorically, is what they're losing and what they would presumably prefer. The latter is much less attractive--akin to moving money from one kimono sleeve to another--but without foreigners, "tourist yen" is all they end up with.

Like the dollars all those Europeans are bringing? I get that there is a grain of truth in what you are saying but this is mostly an outdated mode of thinking. The Japanese economy has plenty of access to $ denominated capital markets if they wanted $.

Yes, Europeans bring the metaphorical "dollars" I referred to. And there is no "if they wanted $". They do. And I mean earning dollars, not buying them on international markets. I have access to capital markets, too, and I can buy any currency I want, but buying money is not the same as earning it.
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