Tokyo mulls 'simplified' Games, no fanfare countdown events

Organizers of the postponed Tokyo Summer Olympics have decided not to hold a large scale event marking the one-year countdown to the Games because of the coronavirus pandemic, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday.

Meanwhile, lawmaker and Tokyo 2020 executive board member Toshiaki Endo said on Friday that organizers will need to monitor the novel coronavirus situation until next spring before deciding whether to go ahead with the Summer Olympics.

The comment by Endo, one of six vice presidents on the board and a former Olympics minister, marks the first time an organizing committee executive has remarked on the timing for a decision on the Games.

Officials of the organizing committee are seeking to cut costs related to the postponement until next year of the Games, which had been due to start next month, and are also conscious of pandemic risks.

They are facing the unprecedented headache of rearranging the event, which requires the costly rejigging of everything from venues to transport.

View of the Olympic Rings near the new National Stadium in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium will serve as the main venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and for the track and field events at the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. /VCG

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Thursday that organizers were looking at ways to simplify the event itself, though nothing had been decided.

Streamlining plans could involve cutting the number of spectators attending indoor competitions and reducing participation in the opening and closing ceremonies.

Mandatory coronavirus testing is also possible to make the Games safer to hold.

Japan's broadcaster NHK quoted Yuriko as saying, "The people of Tokyo and Japan will need to show understanding for the games to be held. To gain that support we are considering what needs to be streamlined and simplified."

At last year's countdown event, organizers unveiled the medals at a ceremony attended by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the countdown clock in front of Tokyo Station was launched.

The countdown clock has been reset for the new opening date of July 23, 2021.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover image: Tokyo 2020 signage is seen in Enoshima in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, January 30, 2020. The venue will hold sailing events. /VCG)