More Japanese companies pull out of Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony

Three days to go for the opening ceremony

 More Japanese companies have decided against sending executives to Friday’s opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics as concerns about holding the games during the pandemic grow.
 

With just three days left until the opening ceremony, organisers said cases among staff, athletes and others linked to the games reached 71 on Tuesday. The tally includes 31 international visitors tied to the event.
 

Toshiro Muto, the head of the organising committee for the Tokyo Olympics, did not rule out a last-minute cancellation of the global sporting showpiece. “We can't predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases,” said Muto.
 

Senior officials from Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, Fujitsu, and NEC would skip the event given that organisers decided to hold the games without spectators, spokespeople for the technology giants said Tuesday, a day after Toyota Motor announced its top executive wouldn’t attend.
 

Japan’s pledge to hold a safe and secure games is coming under threat as Covid-19 cases jump in Tokyo. On Tuesday, Tokyo witnessed 1,387 confirmed cases, compared to just 830 a week ago. The seven-day average has roughly doubled over the past two weeks  
 

In a fresh public relations setback, Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada, known as Cornelius, quit the team creating the opening ceremony after acknowledging he bullied school classmates with disabilities years ago.
 

The games will be the first in modern history to be held without spectators, after Tokyo entered another state of emergency that will run throughout the tournament.
 

Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi will miss the opening ceremony, although Chair-man Kazuhiro Tsuga will attend in his role as vice-president of the organising committee, a spokesperson said.
 

Meiji Holdings and Asahi Group Holdings had already decided executives wouldn’t go, and bosses from Nippon Life Insurance and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will also stay away, representatives said. Toyota President Akio Toyoda will miss the event, the automaker said Monday.