With a tinge of autumn in the air, the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, held over the course of more than a month in the face of extraordinary challenges posed by the coronavirus, are nearing an end. For Japan, however, the real test may still await.
That is the assessment of Shunya Yoshimi, a prominent Japanese sociologist, who summed up the Summer Games, staged despite widespread skepticism, as a failure for Japan, saying they had shined a light on the host country's problems in many ways.
"The Olympics didn't go well, but not necessarily because of the coronavirus," the University of Tokyo professor said in an interview a few days before Sunday's closing of the Paralympics. "The ultimate reason is that there was no reason to host the Olympics at this point. It was too early for Tokyo to host its second Olympics."