There are now growing calls to cancel or at the very least postpone this year’s Olympic Games scheduled to be hosted by Japan in Tokyo this summer, despite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) being keen to press ahead with the event that takes place every four years.

CEO of Japan’s top e-commerce platform Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani said: “It’s dangerous to host the big international event from all over the world. So, the risk is too big. The upside is not that great, and we see many countries are still struggling so much, including India and Brazil. And it’s not time to celebrate yet.

“I call it like a suicide mission to be very honest and I think we should stop.”

Japan has 674,000 cases of COVID infections with 11,330 dying from it. Hospitals continue to be overwhelmed.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced earlier this month that the government will extend COVID-19 state of emergency measures for Tokyo and surrounding areas by three weeks to May 31.

The country’s vaccination programme has been very slow with about two per cent of the population totally vaccinated. Japan has a population of 127 million.

A survey conducted between May 7 and 9 by Yomiuri Shimbun showed that 60 per cent of Japanese people want the Games cancelled. The Olympic Games are due to begin on July 23, 10 weeks from now.

Yesterday (May 14), an online petition with more than 350,000 signatures called for the Games to be cancelled citing fears over rising COVID numbers and the countries unpreparedness. The campaign called ‘Stop Tokyo Olympics’ is building momentum.

Other top Japanese companies, like Olympic sponsor car maker Toyota, have noted the country’s concerns about going ahead with the Olympics.

“We have been deeply concerned by reports that athletes have become the target of some people’s frustrations about the current medical situation. We have been working to identify what we can do as a sponsor to help that situation because we are really concerned with the situation as a top sponsor,” said Toyota’s Operating Officer Jun Nagata.

SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son weighed in, saying: “I’m very much afraid of having the Olympics, not just for Japan, but for many countries. They are having a tough situation. I don’t know how they can support sending athletes.”