Olympics ….. ???

It is a fascinating time to be here …. the Olympics are certainly a HOT topic! In February the 83 year old head of the Tokyo Olympics Committee, and one time Prime Minister, resigned after his comment that women spoke too much in meetings made headlines around the world. Welcome to Japan; in the Global Gender Gap Report of 2020, Japan was ranked 121st out of 153 countries. What a disgrace! Recently I was attacked online by keyboard warriors when I objected to someone referring to young women as ‘birds’.

Recent surveys suggest that more than 80% of Japanese people oppose hosting the Olympics … Tokyo and many other prefectures are in a State of Emergency with the government requesting people work from home, don’t travel outside their prefectures, and that restaurants and bars do not sell alcohol and close by 8 pm. The vaccination programme is woefully slow, with only health workers & people over 65 yrs eligible so far. As of 21st May, only 0.46 doses per 100 people had been administered compared to 1.32 for South Korea, 12 for France & 35.38 for USA. I think UK is at a similar stage to USA. PM Suga has pledged that 36m of the population, those aged 65 & over, will be fully vaccinated by the end of July but people are dubious that this will be achieved.

The most recent furore was caused when the IOC vice president suggested that sacrifices had to be made to ensure the Olympics went ahead. Although it was not explicit, people in Japan have taken it as a reference to them. And now industry leaders and leading physicians are wading in to ask that the Olympics are postponed or even cancelled.

What next …… ????

Ueno Park

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The pictorial wooden plaques are called an Ema. Traditionally people write wishes for success in examinations, good health for your family etc on these wooden tablets and hang them on special holders.

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The last time we were in Ueno Park, these lakes were open …. they are now chock a block with lotus plants. We will need to return in mid July to view these. I have just found out that lotus flowers open early in the morning & close by mid-day so we will have to plan our visit accordingly.

Another tower ..

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This is Port Tower, and views from the observatory some 113 m above ground in Chiba City. On a good clear day, it is possible to see Mount Fuji but not on the day we were there. Chiba City is not very attractive (sorry residents) port with the tower built as a vanity project in 1986 when the population of Chiba Prefecture reached 5 million.

Rainy Season

We have just started the rainy season – this is called tsuyu, meaning plum rain because it coincides with the season of plums ripening. I like the logic. We have six weeks of so of rain … but at least it isn’t cold and we won’t have rain every day. Temperatures are likely to be between 19 & 26, so the problem is what to wear, especially as the humidity also rises greatly. Traditional rainwear is too hot so it will be umbrella hoisted!

Here in Tokyo, people tend to use large clear vinyl umbrellas offering good cover and the ability to see where you are going! In Hong Kong shops provide plastic covers for wet brollies but here we have containers such as the one below that wipe excess water off your brolly.

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Now over to you ….

I have now reported on my first six months in Tokyo and I am undecided about whether or not to continue. I haven’t a clue who reads my blogs, so if you want me to continue please leave a note on the blog, send me an email or message me on WhatsApp, Signal or Line.

Many thanks xx