Municipalities across Japan registered for the government's Host Town program for pre-Tokyo Paralympic training camps and cultural exchanges are being required to cover additional COVID-19-related costs out of their own pockets, and some are giving up on the move.
While basic costs for dealing with the coronavirus are being subsidized by the government, additional measures required to ensure safe transportation and accommodation of athletes with disabilities are not.
"It costs millions of yen," said a person involved with the program at a municipality far from the Tokyo metropolitan area, scheduled to welcome around 100 athletes and staff in several groups until right before the Aug. 24 opening of the Paralympics.