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Kiyoteru Tsutsui's Research on the Tokyo Olympics in the Stanford News

The road to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics has been a long and winding one, says Stanford sociologist

The 2020 Summer Olympics have begun this week but public support among the Japanese public for the games has been generally low and their mood can be articulated through the succinct question: “Why are we doing this now?” says Stanford sociologist and Japan Program Director Kiyoteru Tsutsui.

Here, Tsutsui discusses how the various challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other national scandals related to the games have led to a general dissatisfaction among the Japanese public towards their government and the International Olympic Committee. Despite low morale, the country’s mood may change once the Summer Games commence – barring any further complications or disruptions. But given that the games are pared down this year, it still may be hard to generate the same levels of excitement as in previous years, Tsutsui said.

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