: Japan’s COVID-19 Strategy Relied on Trust. Holding the Olympics Shattered It at the Worst Possible Time #WorldNEWS On Tuesday evening about a dozen people huddled together around a big screen TV

Japan’s COVID-19 Strategy Relied on Trust. Holding the Olympics Shattered It at the Worst Possible Time #WorldNEWS
On Tuesday evening about a dozen people huddled together around a big screen TV at a sports bar in a residential neighborhood in western Tokyo to watch Japan face off against Spain in the men’s soccer semifinals.
COVID-19 cases are hitting daily records in the Olympic host city, and the Japanese government has declared a state of emergency, asking bars and karaoke parlors to either close or not to serve alcohol and requesting most stores and restaurants to shut at 8 p. m. But the Olympics are in town, and the match is taking place just a 45-minute-train ride away.
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To avoid detection, the bar’s owner, Takashi, who asked to only go by his first name, has installed black curtains over the window facing the street, and he asks his guests to walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
He lets his customers know when he’ll be open via LINE, Japans most popular instant messaging app. I dont say ‘the bar is open. ’ Instead, I just write ‘Come by my place tonight if you’d like,’ the 60-year-old tells TIME.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga insisted that there is no link between the Tokyo Summer Olympics and the dangerous surge in COVID-19. Its true that, so far, strict infection control measures have curtailed the spread of the virus from the 60,000-some athletes, coaches, and media and staff who entered Japan for the Olympics and Paralympics.
READ MORE: Tokyos Plan to Avoid Pandemic Disaster During the Olympics
But experts—and a lot of Japanese scofflaws—say the governments decision to plow ahead with the Olympics while also telling people to stay home and obey social distancing has shattered the willingness of many Japanese people to abide by the rules after 18 months of yo-yoing COVID-19 restrictions.
Weve been relying on the voluntary behavioral changes of the people, Hitoshi Oshitani, the virologist who helped devise Japan’s original COVID-19 strategy, tells TIME. Its getting very difficult to persuade people to stay at home because we are holding the Olympics. So, we are in a very difficult situation right now.
Scenes like those at Takashis bar are taking place all across Tokyo, and in some areas businesses and revelers are openly defying social distancing guidelines to party and celebrate the Japanese Olympic teams most successful Games ever—22 gold medals and counting.
Backlash over Olympics and COVID-19 restrictions

Yuichi Yamazaki—Getty ImagesPeople stand in the street and drink on August 5, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
Until this latest wave, Japan had been relatively successful against the virus. In early July, the country of 126 million people had recorded about 800,000 coronavirus cases and 15,000 deaths.