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The Tokyo Olympics kicked off Wednesday with a game between the Australian and Japanese women’s softball teams. (AP/Yonhap News)

The Tokyo Olympics kicked off Wednesday with a game between the Australian and Japanese women’s softball teams. The game, the first of this year’s Olympics, was held at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.

The softball game was particularly important for Japan, which has dubbed this year’s games the “Recovery Olympics,” since it shows the whole world that Japan has rebuilt Fukushima, severely damaged by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear disaster.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) appears to be on board with the Japanese government’s plan. Rumor has it that IOC President Thomas Bach might even throw the first pitch at a baseball game between Japan and the Dominican Republic in the same stadium on Wednesday.

As the Japanese public turns against the games, Tokyo and the IOC seem determined to use the Fukushima issue to assuage public anger.

Japan has even set up a promotional booth for the “Recovery Olympics” at the Main Press Center for the Olympics, where reporters from around the world are gathering. The booth is decorated with wooden chairs made in Fukushima and flowers from the prefectures affected by the disaster: Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate.

“The flowers from affected regions will be used in Olympic bouquets, and agricultural products will be provided to the Olympic Village,” a staff member at the booth said on Tuesday.

The promotional booth for the “Recovery Olympics” at the Main Press Center for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is decorated with flowers from the prefectures affected by the disaster: Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate. (Lee Jun-hee/The Hankyoreh)

Produce from Fukushima has become a source of conflict between South Korea and Japan. The Japanese government objected to the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) decision to provide Korean athletes with its own meals.

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party vociferously objected that KSOC’s plan is “causing pain to the residents of the affected areas.” I can’t shake the feeling that Japan is trying to exploit the aftermath of the disaster for political ends by redirecting Japanese anxiety about the Olympics against the outside world.

A clip from Japan’s NHK broadcaster went viral in Korea at the beginning of this month. In the clip, NHK anchor Kana Nakayama was interviewing someone about a landslide in Shizuoka Prefecture on July 3 when she realized the interviewee wasn’t in a safe location. She immediately halted the interview and asked the interviewee to take shelter.

I’m often impressed to see the Japanese calmly reading a disaster announcement right after an earthquake takes place. It’s wonderful to see people in a crisis situation dutifully going about their assigned roles in a principled manner.

But the Japanese government’s behavior during a disaster situation has been far from that sort of principled response. Rather than checking for the possibility of radiation after the earthquake and nuclear accident, the government rushed forward with a campaign to support affected areas by eating their produce, which only exacerbated fears.

A more recent example was Japan’s decision to release radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. The Japanese public is sharply divided on the decision, and residents of the Tohoku Region, including Fukushima, have expressed their opposition to releasing the contaminated water. Residents don’t trust the government’s decision, which they’re worried might set Fukushima back a decade.

The Tohoku earthquake was a tragedy not only for Japan but also for all of humanity. People of all nationalities want recovery for the affected regions and the people living there.

I’m just not sure whether softball matches, Thomas Bach’s first pitch, the promotional booth for the “Recovery Olympics” and the Japanese government’s repetitive appeals to “just trust us” are very helpful.

“We’re working hard for Fukushima’s recovery, but we don’t know how we’ll be helped by the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” a skeptical Fukushima farmer was quoted as saying in the Japanese media.

I wonder how long the Japanese government will shut its ears to domestic and international public opinion.

By Lee Jun-hee, staff reporter

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