TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese residents are torn between trepidation and tentative support for next year’s Olympic Games that are now set to be far more expensive than expected amid a spike in coronavirus cases.
In an announcement on Friday, organisers said the postponed Games would cost an additional 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion) with the bill to be shared by the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG).
In total, TMG and the national government, and in turn the Japanese taxpayer, are expecting to pay 191 billion yen to cover the costs of postponement and a raft of coronavirus countermeasures.
Despite the total Games budget now being likely to run north of 1.63 trillion yen, some Japanese residents taking photographs near the newly-built National Stadium on Monday said they believed it may be a price worth paying.
