Bach wants athletes from abroad vaccinated

Nov 17, 2020 | News On Japan

Nov 17, 2020 (NHK) - The president of the International Olympic Committee says foreign athletes and visitors to the Tokyo Games next year should be vaccinated for the coronavirus before entering Japan if a vaccine is available.

IOC President Thomas Bach made the remark during a meeting with Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko at the Office of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Monday. He arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for the first time since the decision was made in March to postpone the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to next year.

At the meeting, Koike said she hopes the Tokyo Games will represent a victory over the coronavirus. She said Tokyo and Japan are making a maximum effort to welcome athletes from around the world to the Games and they will be held in a safe manner, free of worries.

She expressed readiness to work closely with the IOC.

Koike spoke about how sports can hearten and impress people, referring to the US Open Tennis championships held earlier this year and the recent international gymnastics competition in Tokyo.

She added that she wants to send a strong message that the Tokyo Games will be a successful beacon of hope for the future.

For his part, Bach expressed his hope to work together with Tokyo to hold the Games in a safe environment, and stressed the need for all people involved in the Games to unite and endeavor to work out anti-virus measures.

He also said the IOC will make a great effort so that as many Olympic participants and visitors as possible will arrive in Japan after being vaccinated -- if a vaccine is available.

Bach pledged to work with Japanese authorities to create a safe environment for the Games for both the participants and Japanese people.

Typhoons No. 28 and 29 Bring High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Two typhoons moving across the Pacific southeast of Japan are expected to remain well away from the Japanese mainland, but powerful swells could bring rough seas to a wide stretch of the country's Pacific coastline throughout the three-day holiday weekend, according to forecasts updated at 3 a.m. on October 10.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

Tokyo University Professor Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo University of Science professor emeritus Kenzo Soai has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with French chemist Henri B. Kagan for discoveries that transformed scientists' understanding of how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.

US Military Halts All Okinawa Operations for 48 Hours

The US military suspended activities by all forces stationed in Okinawa for 48 hours from noon on October 7, an unusual measure following the arrest of a US Marine in connection with a robbery and murder case that has renewed scrutiny of crimes involving American service members.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.