Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics 'will be held this summer': Japan PM Yoshihide Suga

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga started the new year promising that the delayed Tokyo Olympics would go ahead in July 2021, even as Japan fights with a steep rise in coronavirus cases and the rising cost of an event that is becoming increasingly unpopular with the public.

“The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held this summer,” Suga said in a written statement for the New Year, describing the event as a symbol of world unity. “We will make steady preparations to realise a safe and secure tournament.”

IOC president Thomas Bach, who visited Japan in November, reiterated the IOC’s commitment to the games in a video to mark the start of the New Year, noting that Tokyo was the “best prepared” Olympic city ever.

“These Olympic Games will be the light at the end of the tunnel,” Bach said.

“They will be a celebration of solidarity, of the unity of humankind in all our diversity, and of resilience.”

In Japan, however, public opinion also appears to be turning against the event.

A survey published by public broadcaster NHK in December found only 27 percent of people wanted the games to go ahead, compared with 40 percent in October. The proportion preferring cancellation rose to 32 percent, compared with 23 percent in October. The remainder wanted another postponement, but the IOC has ruled that out.

With seven months to go, Japan is contending with a surge in cases of COVID-19, which reached record levels in Tokyo and nationwide on December 31.

Notably, the budget for the Games has increased to $15.9bn (£11.8bn) from $2.8bn (£2.1bn) due to measures needed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier in his New Year's address, Japan PM Yoshihide Suga vowed to fight against COVID-19. "The Suga Cabinet firmly promises to protect citizens' lives and livelihoods, continuing to put all of our energy into preventing the spread of infections and reviving the economy," Kyodo News quoted PM Suga as saying.

Suga, who took office in September called the coronavirus outbreak an "unprecedented national crisis," and thanked frontline health care workers for working "day and night" to fight against the virus.