Letters Pleading the IOC not to Hold the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021

[ALL the following letters were written and sent to the IOC: enquiries.contact@olympic.org in protest against holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 – letters are currently ongoing]

（日本語で首相官邸に送った書簡もあります。基本的にIOCに権限があるので、日本政府には決定権がないとは思いますが、内容としては是非IOCに今の日本の現状ともしオリンピックが開かれたら、日本だけでなく世界中に迷惑をかけてしまう結果になる旨を伝えてほしい、抗議してほしい、と言うような内容を送っています。枚数は少ないですが、出来るだけ発信していきたいと思っているので、英語が読めない方も日本語の文章だけでも読んでいただけると幸いです。）

https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/forms/goiken_ssl.html

LETTER 1 (May 27th, 2021)

To whom it may concern,

   First of all, I am currently a resident of Japan, and I as well as many other Japanese people were deeply offended by the vice-president John Coates’ speech that happened during the online conference. However you (you = IOC) make any excuses, it was apparent from the receiving side of the comment that Mr. Coates does not value or care about not only Japanese people’s lives but also the athletes’ lives. Below is what Mr. Coates said.

“The advice we have from the WHO (World Health Organization) and all other scientific and medical advice that we have is that — all the measures we have outlined, all of those measures that we are undertaking are satisfactory and will ensure a safe and secure games in terms of health,” Coates said. “And that’s the case whether there is a state of emergency or not… If it doesn’t then our position is that we have to make sure that we get on with our job,” Coates said. “And our job is to ensure these games are safe for all the participants and all the people of Japan.”

    This only speaks of the Olympic games and not before or after. You have raised that sporting events have been safely held in the past, but Australian Open – one of the largest sporting events held at Melbourne, too, had issues. As you must well know, they held the games because there was no infection at Melbourne at the time, and all the players went through rigorous testing before getting onto the airplane and after entering Australia. However, the invasion of the virus could not be prevented. What part of this do you think is a success? Because of this, many players who were on the same airplane as the one who became symptomatic had to be quarantined. Do you honestly believe the motto and the foundation of the Olympics will be maintained should you insist on holding the Olympic games in Tokyo? Do you all know why people are excited to see all athletes compete? It is to see the Olympians compete in their best conditions under safe circumstances. The Olympics have been cancelled three times in the past during the wars. Pandemic such as COVID-19 has been declared a war by many countries. Any casualties of the athletes due to this Tokyo Olympics will be blamed on your short-sightedness. Are you ready to take on the responsibilities that this Olympics may cause either in the short term or in the long term even after the games are over? 

   By the statement above, I cannot help but think that you only care about the people involved during the Olympics – this means in your concern, people living in Japan or whatever may happen to the athletes post Olympics are not included. Furthermore, Japan , as like any other countries, lacks beds for the patients and doctors and nurses. Once the Olympics are held, about 200-300 doctors are said to be forced-volunteered to attend to the asteletes, abandoning their own patients. Not to mention doctors and nurses have been working over 100 hours a week currently. Having this Olympics will necessarily cause 1) deaths related to the games, 2) possible mutants that may be termed as Tokyo Olympic strain/variant for decades to be talked about, and 3 above all, your own athletes who have trust in you may get contracted and suffer and die after the Olympics if not during the Olympics. 

   If the Olympics can be cancelled during the physical wars, but not during a biochemical war, then this would reflect bad on you as well, for there will be less and less countries that would want to raise their hands to host the Olympics, if they know they are getting into a contract with no escape even considering what the world’s situation is. People have been suffering and dying and many small businesses going bankrupt. Is it the will of the IOC to destroy a country? That’s what it means to say you will have the Olympics “whether there is a state of emergency or not.”

   If you continue on going down this road and have your own way and get your Olympics done, not only the IOC but the current persons in charge, namely, Vice President John Coates and the President of the IOC Thomas Bach’s names will forever be associated with the instigators of mass murderers, when doctors of the host country are pleading the Olympics to stop. While this letter may not change the minds of Mr. Bach and Mr. Coates, most people in the world think that the Olympics should not happen this time, and your names will be forever carved into the history as people who, knowingly, pushed the Olympics to go ahead, going against the commonsense and the public opinions that having this Olympics poses a serious medical concern and humanitarian catastrophe. 

   I, amongst many others in the world and in Japan, hereby oppose your single-handed decision to put people and the athletes at risk by insisting to have the Olympic games in this summer of 2021. 

   I heartily wish that this collective voice from the locals, patients and those who are already dead due to COVID-19 will reach someone’s ears and save the future Olympics from being known to and as a symbol of the inhumanitarian organization.  

   Yours truly,

   Issei Takehara, a resident of Osaka, Japan. 

May 27, 2021

LETTER 2 May 28th, 2021

To whom it may concern,

   I am writing to you again as I have not received any responses or the acknowledgement that you have received my email enquiry.

   According to the contract signed in 2013, on section XI. Termination, where it discusses how the termination of the contract is possible, it clearly states on the article 66. Termination of Contract that 

“a) The IOC shall be entitled to terminate this contract and to withdraw the Games from the [host] City if: 1) the Host City is at any time, whether before the Opening Ceremony or during the Games, in a state of war, civil disorder, boycott, embargo decreed by the international community or in a situation officially recognized as one of belligence or if the IOC has reasonable grounds to believe, in its sole discretion, that the safety of participants in the Games would be seriously threatened or jeopardized for any reason whatever;… iii) the Games are not celebrated during the year of 2020... (p. 72) … In case of withdrawal of the Games by the IOC, or termination of this Contract by the IOC for any reason whatsoever, the City, the NOC, and the OCOG hereby waive any claim and right to any form of indemnity, damages or other compensation or remedy of any kind and hereby undertake indemnify and hold harmless IOC Indemnitees from any third party claims, actions or judgments in respect of such withdrawal or indemnification. It is the responsibility of the OCOG to notify all parties with whom it contracts of the content of the section.” (p.73)

   I hereby ask you, within the Host City, doctors as well as the public, not to mention the International community including astheles, are pleading to stop the Olympics for the safety of participants in the Games, as well as the lives of the population in the Host City, under what authority and assurance that you have made the decision that it is absolutely safe to hold the Olympics? WHO raised a grave concern while many countries declared this a war in 2020. Forcing through the Olympics would directly contradict, and thereby, indignifies and undermines the very Contract the IOC has proposed.  

   The WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “We have never before seen a respiratory pathogen that is capable of community transmission of Covid-19 is feasible and must remain the top priority for all countries. With early, aggressive measures, countries can stop transmission and save lives.” We have come nowhere near this, and in fact the situation in Japan is much worse than last year this time.

   1) Do you care about the safety of the participants (this could mean not only athletes but also anyone tending to the athletes as well as the general public in the Host City), when the situation is so dire and the COVID-19 remains contagious tha no foreigners are allowed to enter Japan at least until September, as the Contract states? 

   2) Especially in the recent wake of U.N. Chief, Antonio Gterres, said on May 24th, 2021, that we are at war with the coronavirus, how can his statement be consistent with Mr. Cloates and Mr. Bach’s view that we are not at war, hence we can secure the safety of the participants? How are your views not directly contradicting with and thereby violating the contract?

   Please respond with a satisfactory explanation that you will take ALL the responsibilities caused by the Olympics if you so insist that there is no security threat. Otherwise, please announce the cancellation of the Olympic Games immediately. 

   Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

   Yours sincerely,

   Issei Takehara, a resident of Osaka.

May 28, 2021

LETTER 3 May 29th, 2021

To whom it may concern,

   I have been writing 3 days in a row, yet no one has responded to me. Does this mean that you have a shortage of staff at this crucial time? I will keep writing until all my questions have been answered. I will also publish my letters in public. 

   In Preamble in Host City Contract for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in the year 2020, you write the following:

…

M. Whereas the City and the NOC acknowledge that doping is contrary to the fundamental principles of Olympism and the spirit of sort, which is characterized by the following values: ethics, fair-play, honesty, friendship, health, excellence in performance, character and education, fun and joy, teamwork, dedication and commitment, respect for rules and laws, respect for self and other participants, courage, community and solidarity... (p.7)

   This is an article which is against doping and cheating in the Olympic Games. However, here it is clearly stated what the fundamental principle of Olympism and the spirit of sort is. 

1. Ethics – is it ethical for the IOC to force upon the Host City during the pandemia, when cases are surging and there is a predictably large chance of creating new variants that could endanger lives of the people around the world? Is it more ethical to sacrifice people’s lives than to worry about losing money, however substantial the amount is? 

2. Health – Do you think that health is not threatened by the invisible virus that is still rampant in the Host City? The doctors and nurses and medical experts as well as sport players (not just) in the Host City think so. This is obviously the case when you see the current condition and look around the world. If Mr. Bach needs to wear a mask when visiting Japan, or postponing his visit due to the state of emergency, in what logic are we supposed to believe “Yes, it is perfectly safe to have the Olympics.”?

3. Excellence in performance – Do you expect that the asthels can perform at their best condition after postponement of the Olympic Games? Does the fundamental principle of Olympism not apply here?

4. Character and Education – Can you with confidence say that the athletes are properly educated and prepared for the upcoming Olympics? At least 60%-80% of the players believe they are not. This question refers back to my earlier question on Health. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57240044

5. Fun and Joy – How much fun and joy do you expect there would be when the Olympics are held with fewer or no spectators? Does it not invoke the asteles fear and worry rather than fun and joy?

6. Teamwork – How can the athletes be expected to excel in their teamwork when they have been deprived of personal training and their practice games? Again, this refers back to my earlier question on Excellence in Performance. 

7. Respect for self and other participants – this is essentially lost before the Games have begun. Not only among the asteles but among the people around the world. 

8. Community and Solidarity – Once again, up to 80% of the people are opposed to having this Olympic Games as a community and in solidarity in fear of death. Where is this principle to be found in this upcoming Olympics?

   I await your quick response.

   Yours, sincerely,

   Issei Takehara, a resident of Osaka, May 29th, 2021.

LETTER 4 May 30th, 2021

To whom it mean concern,

   This will be the 4th time I am writing this email, asking to reconsider your decision to have the Olympics, especially in light of a new medical journal published that finds flaws in your argument to go through with the Olympics safely. 

   On the Contract, in the Preamble, it is stated as follows.

   S. Whereas the City and the NOC acknowledge and agree to maximize the planning, organizing, financing and stagning of the Games so as to create and nurture a positive and lasting legacy for the City and the Host Country. (p.7-p.8)

   T. Whereas the City and the NOC acknowledge and agree to carry out their activities pursuant to this Contract in full compliance with universal fundamental ethical principles...

   1) As you have been fully briefed, it is impossible to “create and nurture a positive and lasting legacy for the City and the Host Country” should we proceed with the Olympics this year. Japan is already dying, yet your recent comments ignore the severity of the situation from the standpoint of the common people, for whose enjoyment the Olympics were created. The Games are now implanting uncertainty and visible bankruptcy all over Japan. The operative word, “Omotenashi” when the Olympics were decided to be held in Tokyo in 2020, all we can do now is sacrifice our citizens’ lives to support the astletes. Is this what the Olympics has come down to? Having the Olympics this year in Tokyo, Japan, would do nothing but the very opposite of creating and nurturing a positive and lasting legacy for the City, the Host Country and the IOC. 

   2) As I have mentioned in my May 29th email, what is written as the fundamental principles of the Olympia at Preamble M, it is clear to all the unbiased and uninvested experts that this Olympics would create a precedence to the future Olympics and taints its history by creating a genocidal event sponsored by the IOC. PLEASE LISTEN TO US. If you think it is perfectly safe, come without wearing masks and stay and allow the asteletes to hang out and tour Japan. If this cannot be granted, by your own admission, you are saying it is dangerous to hold the Olympics now in Japan. Once again, please reconsider.

   Yours sincerely,

   Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

   Issei Takehara, a resident of Osaka, May 30, 2021

LETTER 5 May 31st, 2021

To whom it may concern,

   I am writing this email once again as I have not heard back from you (not even an automated email). As you must be aware, there are so many reasons why it is not a good idea to hold the Olympics this year as scheduled. You must also know that the result of having the Olympics this year is going to be tremendously costly (not only financially but also in terms of human lives). I understand that your sole reason for wanting to have this Olympics is so that you do not want to look bad or lose money – it is a commonsense for anybody and it is painfully obvious especially if you reside in Japan. The state of emergency was supposed to end on May 11th, yet it got extended till May 31st, which again got extended to June 20th – almost exactly a month before the Olympics. This is also why Mr. Bach’s original schedule to visit Japan on May 18th was postponed until after the state of emergency has been lifted. 

   However, this new extension till June 20th is liable to change. Japanese people have already been told to stay home and close their businesses at 8 pm and yet the cases of infection are rising. I believe this is also why you had to make an adjustment to the “terms of agreement” and included specifically that athletes must sign and agree that whatever may happen due to this Olympic, in particular deaths related to COVD-19, it is not the responsibility of the IOC but of the individuals. You must know there is a great and credible threat that things can get out of control by holding the Games during the pandemic. You responded as to the reason why COVID-19 related deaths would be the personal responsibility that it is because “such” terms of conditions have always been expected from the athletes. While this may be true, i.e. damages or injuries during the competitions are the responsibilities of the athletes, with regard to the infectious disease, how can you justify that it should be their own fault when you are the one forcing them to gather in the center of the pandemic? Furthermore, under normal circumstances, damages and injuries are entailed in the sporting events, this added requirement of terms of condition does not stop within the athletes but it also necessarily includes transmission of the virus to people who are entirely indifferent and unrelated to the Olympics. This is significantly different and deviates from the traditional and fundamental principles you speak of in the contract. Why must ordinary citizens sacrifice their lives due to the Olympics? How can you justify your position? What you are essentially saying is that even if a new mutant of the virus spreads possibly due to the Olympics, the IOC will not be held accountable for whatever happens afterwards, even if the IOC is the source of the predicted mass killings of citizens in the Host country. 

   Once again, what you are saying now and what is in the traditional contract are directly in opposition with one another. We must conclude that the IOC does not care about human lives but only its immediate profits with propositions like this. It would be impossible to keep the optics from the world that you care about the sports more than money if you indeed hold the Olympics in this condition. With it, what little trust or dignity the IOC has enjoyed will disappear. Please think about what you are about to do in the long term. The majority of Japanese people do not want the Olympics to be held when we have been suffering the economic consequences of the state of emergency for over 5 months. We are literally dying and we are unable to think about a week from now because of the imminent bankruptcy of the individual businesses. How cruel do you need to be for your own benefit? Your stance on going through with the Olympics is a death sentence to Japan and Japanese people, and you are the only organization that can save lives.  

   Once again, on behalf of the majority of Japanese, I humbly ask you not to hold the Olympics this year. What you are about to do is an attempt to infiltrate mass murdering on the world scale. Please take a moment to realize that before we perish. Please do not threaten us and kill us any more. 

   I heartily wish you to consider what the people in the Host country are saying loud and clear.

    Yours sincerely,  

 Issei Takehara, May 31st 2021.

LETTER 6, June 1st 2021.

To whom it may concern,

   This is the 6th day since I started messaging you to urge the importance of reconsideration on holding the Olympics this year. As to the responsibility and accountability, you (=the IOC) have already stated that you will not take any responsibility for possible and very likely deaths and the COVID surge all around the world due to the movement of athletes. On the one hand, you claim that the Olympics will be held safely while falling short to say that only 80% of the athletes will be fully vaccinated, yet on the other hand you force the athletes to sign the agreement that should they get infected with COVID-19, and should they die from it, you will not be responsible for their deaths. These two statements clearly contradict one another and the cognitive dissonance is so visibly manifest that many people in Japan do not feel safe about the Olympics and do not feel they can trust you. For how could they, when you claim “everyone will be fine, but if someone dies, it’s their responsibility”? 

   I am sure that discussions based upon the contract, including article 66 on the termination of the contract, have been done and you have decided that the current situation of Japan does not pose a health threat to the athletes as well as the audience. You have made it clear that you would take no responsibility whatsoever should someone get infected and die during the Olympics you claim to be perfectly safe. Perhaps, I should start focusing on telling you of the current situations from the lay person’s viewpoint. Arguments from political or ethical stance do not seem to interest you as much. If you have decided that you would not be held accountable for triggering a possible mass murder, then perhaps you should better understand what ordinary people on the street are worried about and thinking of daily. 

   The state of emergency or something akin to it has been declared non-stop since the beginning of this year, and businesses especially that have to do with food industries have gone out of business. Since the Japanese constitution cannot mandate a lock-down, everyone has been complying with the Japanese government’s plea for over a year not to offer alcoholic beverages or not to go out in large parties, etc… on a honour system basis. Since last year, more than 1550 companies have declared bankruptcy as of May 31st due to the restrictions relating to COVID-19. Since this April of 2021, the cases of infections have risen and the slow process of vaccination in combination with infected cases with the British and India variant under the strict state of emergency protocol made it inevitable to prolong the state of emergency. Hospital workers are reported to have been working 100 hours a week or over. Yet once the Olympics is held, the IOC demands 200-300 doctors and nurses to tend to the athletes without pay. I cannot find a word to describe this order as nothing but inhumane. Restaurants have not been able to fully operate even a single day since this year began on top of restrictions on alcoholic beverages. If Japanese people do not seem to be voicing loudly enough to withhold this Olympics, it is not because they think it is safe – it is because they do not have work or find food to survive in the next few days. They cannot afford to think about what may happen in 53 days. 

   Should the Olympics be held on schedule, there is a great risk that various strains of COVID-19 could create a new variant that may infect not only the Japanese citizens but also the athletes from all around the world, thereby bringing that new variant with them to their countries. Do you honestly not find this argument cogent? Doctors and experts in Japan are worried about Tokyo being the center of the pandemic and spreading the new variant that may kill more people around the world that do not necessarily have access to vaccinations. Many countries have already criticized Japan for hosting the Olympics due to the lack of consideration of the likely possibility of re-inventing the COVID-19 and re-introducing it to the world. But the ultimate authority as to whether or not to have the Olympics lies with the IOC, you, and right now you are faced with making a decision that could decide millions of people under the once in a century scale pandemic. Many Japanese people indeed are worried that Japan could endanger other people’s lives – but why must we, when we do not have the penalty free authority to cancel the Olympics? 

   Please consider the lives of the athletes and the people who love sports, by which you are supported, or else it would not be long until they abandon you and lost a complete trust in you as an organization.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/28/national/state-of-emergency-olympics/

   As always, I look forward to hearing from you as promptly as possible.   

Yours sincerely,   

Issei Takeara, a resident of Osaka, June 1st, 2021. 

LETTER 7, to the Prime Minister of Japan, June 2nd, 2021.

https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/forms/goiken_ssl.html

お仕事ご苦労様です。この数ヶ月コロナ禍での緊急事態宣言の必要性など本当に重大で難しい選択肢に悩まされておられる事とお察しいたします。その上で、やはり結論から言いますと、今この状況でのオリンピックの開催にはどうしても納得できません。IOCとTokyoが交わした「契約書」(2013)にも目を通しましたし、メディアを通して、または知人を通して現在の状況を考慮ました。IOCにも毎日のように危険性を知っていただくため、メールを送っておりますが、ぜひ我が国の代表である菅首相にも、十分ご承知だとは思いますが、返信が頂けるまでは定期的にメッセージを送らせて頂くことになると思います。

契約書の第６６項に「契約破棄」の項目がございますよね？COVID-19とははっきり示されてはいませんが、契約書の72ページにあるように

“i)The Host country is at any time, whether before the Opening Ceremony or during the Games, in a state of war, civil disorder, boycott, embargo decreed by the International Community or in a situation officially recognized as one of belligerence or if the IOC has reasonable grounds to believe, in its sole discretion, that the safety of participants in the Games would be seriously threatened or jeopardized for any reason whatsoever… iii) the Games are not celebrated during the year of 2020.”

以上に当たる場合は、IOCの独断でオリンピックをキャンセルすることができる、とあるのはご承知の通りだと思います。多くの国がCOVID-19を戦争と定義したこともあり、また世界は愚か日本国内でのワクチン接種が十分進んでいない中、いくらIOCに権限が偏っているからといって、このまま強行姿勢でオリンピックを行なってしまうことにより、更なる変異種の発生の可能性、クラスターによるオリンピック後の第４回目の緊急事態宣言の発令の可能性、またオリンピックを行うことにより、選手はおろか日本国民の命を危険に晒すのを承知した上での五輪開催、というのは日本の責任が問われてきます。特にIOCは各選手に怪我や負傷、COVID-19のような感染症による死亡については一切責任を負わない、と署名させていることを見ても、日本政府の責任が問われるのは当然のように思われます。また、この新たな要求は選手が死亡してもIOCは責任を負わないということですが、一般のスポーツ大会では怪我や負傷などの補償を大会主催側がしないことは理解できますが、今回のようなパンデミック、感染症に関しては、いくら選手が渋々承諾しても、何らかの弾みで変異株や既存株の感染が選手や関係者以外、すなわち、「COVID-19による死亡承諾」に署名をしていない人たちにも影響が出てくるのは明らかです。この場合は世界中の目が日本政府に向くことでしょう。