Fans will be banned from Tokyo-area stadiums and arenas when the Olympics begin in two weeks, the city's governor said Thursday after meeting with organizers of the pandemic-postponed games.
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That means the Olympics will be a largely TV-only event, after the Japanese government put the capital under a COVID-19 state of emergency because of rising new infections and the highly contagious delta variant.
The declaration was made by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and the spectator ban was agreed to by Japanese Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, and the metropolitan government of Tokyo.
It was a serious blow for Japanese taxpayers and local organizers of the games, which already had been postponed from 2020 by the coronavirus. Hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket revenue will be lost, and that must be made up by the government. Fans also have endured months of uncertainty about whether the Olympics will go ahead.
"Many people were looking forward to watching the games at the venues, but I would like everyone to fully enjoy watching the games on TV at home," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said after the meeting. "It's gut-wrenching because many people looked forward to watching at the venues."
Fans from abroad were banned months ago, and the new measures will mean no spectators in stadiums and arenas around Tokyo – both indoor and outdoor venues.
The ban covers Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures – Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba. A smattering of events in outlying areas, like baseball in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima, will allow a limited number of fans.
The state of emergency begins July 12 and runs through Aug. 22. The Olympics, which open July 23 and run through Aug. 8, fall entirely under the emergency period, while the Paralympics open Aug. 24.
"Taking into consideration the impact of the delta strain, and in order to prevent the resurgence of infections from spreading across the country, we need to step up virus prevention measures," Suga said.
In principle, the July 23 opening ceremony at the new $1.4 billion National Stadium will be without paying fans, although some dignitaries, sponsors, IOC officials and others will be allowed to attend.
"We will have to review the situation about the dignitaries and stakeholders," organizing committee President Seiko Hashimoto said of the opening ceremony.
"No fans was a very difficult decision," she added.
Hashimoto acknowledged some regrets, particularly about the decision coming so late.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach delivered a message of encouragement to the athletes, saying, "It was a decision which was necessary to ensure safe Olympic Games and this is why the IOC and the IPC both supported this decision. I hope we all agree that the most important thing is that these Olympic Games are happening – that you can make your Olympic dream come true.
"You need not feel alone in these stadia. Billions of people around the entire globe will be glued to their screens, and they will be with you in their hearts," he added. "I hope that you can feel this support from all these people, who are your true fans, who are your family, your friends and your supporters."
On Saturday, two more prefectures outside the immediate Tokyo area have decided to bar fans from attending Olympic events because of rising coronavirus infections.
Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan has decided to hold its baseball and softball events without spectators. It has been joined by the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, which will hold soccer games without fans at the Sapporo Dome.
"Many people including children have been looking forward to the games, and I'm very sorry to take away their chance of watching baseball and softball at the stadium," Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori said Saturday. "It was a very tough decision to make."
Fukushima was the early focus of the Olympics, trying to shine a light on recovery efforts in an area devastated in 2011 by an earthquake, tsunami, and the subsequent meltdown of three nuclear reactors.
Uchibori said the move by Hokkaido on Friday encouraged him to follow suit. He said it was important to have consistency among prefectures.
A few other events being held in the outlying prefectures of Miyagi, Shizuoka and Ibaraki will go ahead with limited spectators, organizers said Saturday.
Also on Saturday, about 40 people staged a small anti-Olympic protest outside the five-star hotel where he is self-isolating after arriving in Tokyo on Thursday.
"He [Bach] seems not to have thought anything about our critical situation and suffering, which makes me more angry," protester Ayako Yoshida said.
Polls have shown between 50%-80% of Japanese oppose holding the Olympics, depending on how the question is phrased. But opponents have failed to martial large turnouts in the streets.
Protesters carried a sign in English that read "Cancel the Tokyo Olympics" and one that had a red line drawn through the face of Bach and was captioned: "You Are Not Welcome."
Tokyo registered 950 new infections on Saturday, the 21st straight day that infections were higher than a week previous. It was the highest since 1,010 were reported on May 13.
Japan has attributed about 15,000 deaths to COVID-19 with 16.8% of the population fully vaccinated. The pandemic has not been as severe in Japan as other places, but the country has not performed as well as some of its Asian neighbors.
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