More Japanese companies have decided against sending executives to Friday’s opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics as concerns about holding the games during the pandemic grow.
Senior officials from Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp. will skip the event given that organizers decided to hold the games without spectators, spokespeople for the technology giants said Tuesday, a day after Toyota Motor Corp. announced its top executive wouldn’t attend.
Japan’s pledge to hold a safe and secure games is coming under threat as COVID-19 cases jump in Tokyo and visiting athletes test positive for the virus. In a fresh public relations setback, Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada, known as Cornelius, quit the team creating the opening ceremony after acknowledging he bullied school classmates with disabilities years ago.
The games will be the first in modern history to be held without spectators, after Tokyo entered another state of emergency that will run throughout the tournament.
Meiji Holdings Co. and Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. had already decided executives wouldn’t go to the opening ceremony, and Nippon Life Insurance Co. bosses will also stay away, representatives said. Toyota President Akio Toyoda will miss the event, the automaker said Monday.
Japanese public support for the Olympics is mixed at best, raising questions over the merits of marketing the competition.
Toyota won’t air local television advertisements during the games, despite being among the global sponsors. Bridgestone Corp. had already decided not to broadcast commercials, a spokesman for the tiremaker said.
NTT plans to broadcast commercials featuring athletes, although it has yet make a final decision.
Nomura Holdings Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plan to continue airing ads, according to spokespeople. Eneos Holdings Inc. is seeking to do the same, although it may change its ad policy depending on the situation, a representative for the petroleum refiner said.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.