When Japan won the competition to host the 2020 Olympics in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it would be a "tremendous opportunity for Tokyo and for Japan to shine at the very center of the world stage.”
Lauding his country as among the safest in the world, Abe vowed in 2013 that problems surrounding the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant would be resolved and hordes of overseas visitors would see that Japan is "marvelous.” Plans raced ahead for new casinos, driverless taxis and a futuristic stadium to dazzle tourists.
Yet many of those projects fell into disarray long before the pandemic forced Abe to postpone the games last year. And now just weeks before the rescheduled opening ceremony on July 23, a resurgent outbreak coupled with one of the slowest vaccine rollouts in Asia has prompted even top business leaders to call for them to be delayed again or scrapped altogether — shining a spotlight on how Japan’s Olympic ambitions have deteriorated.