Why Japan's Commitment To The Olympics Isn't About Money

For weeks, Japanese citizens have been holding protests about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and saying that Japan should not be hosting the Games in the midst of a worsening coronavirus pandemic. A recent poll showed that 80 percent of the public opposes holding the Olympics, and medical experts have warned that the Games could be a super-spreader event that will further strain the country's health care system. Now the government has declared a state of emergency, meaning many businesses are closing their doors, a move that has further enraged many business owners. So, with public opinion so squarely against them, why has the Japanese government continued to insist that the Olympic Games must go on? Anthony Kuhn, NPR's international correspondent in Seoul, joins us to explain why the government's position is about more than the bottom line.

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