Petition to cancel Olympics submitted in Tokyo

Kenji Utsunomiya, a Japanese lawyer and former Tokyo gubernatorial candidate, holds a press conference on his campaign Stop Tokyo Olympic after handing the petitions to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Tokyo

A petition to cancel the Tokyo Olympics with more than 351,000 signatures was submitted to the city's governor on Friday, with its organiser urging officials to ‘prioritise life’. The online petition titled ‘Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to protect our lives’ was launched earlier this month by Kenji Utsunomiya, a lawyer and former candidate for Tokyo governor. It has gathered signatures faster than any previous petition on Change.org's platform in Japan, which Utsunomiya said ‘reflects public opinion’ on the issue. Polls consistently show a majority of Japanese oppose holding the Games this year, favouring either a further delay or cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.