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The Olympic rings on the Odaiba waterfront in Tokyo are pictured on May 12. (EPA/Yonhap News)

Ten thousand volunteers for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo have backed out with just over 50 days left to go before the Olympics open on July 23, it has been learned.

Japan’s Kyodo News agency quoted Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG), Wednesday as saying that 10,000 event volunteers had quit as of that day.

This means that the number of volunteers has fallen to 70,000 from the 80,000 who originally applied.

Commenting on the reasons for the resignation of so many volunteers, Muto was quoted by Kyodo as saying that “concerns about COVID-19 were certainly one [factor].”

While over 80% of the Japanese public favors canceling or additionally postponing the Olympics due to concerns about the virus’s spread, the Japanese government appears to have decided that it is too late to cancel the games.

“Suspension [of the Olympics] is not an option,” an official in the office of the prime minister was quoted as saying in an Asahi Shimbun article the same day.

“That time has already come,” the official also reportedly said.

In an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun, another government official made it clear that a cancellation is not being considered.

“There is no turning back now,” they were quoted as saying.

The remarks suggest a feeling with the Japanese government that it is too late to cancel the Olympics in spite of the public’s opposition and the fact that the COVID-19 virus spread has continued unabated.

Having run into opposition from its own public, the Japanese government now appears to be working overtime to establish support overseas.

Kyodo News reported, “At the strong urging of the Japanese government, coordination is underway to include a message of support for the Tokyo Olympics going ahead in the joint statement from the G7 Summit taking place in the UK on June 11-13.”

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

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