Ex-PM Abe says 'anti-Japan' people are strongly opposing Tokyo Olympics
July 3, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Mainichi)
TOKYO -- Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe criticized those opposing Japan's hosting of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in a magazine piece, saying people tagged as being anti-Japan are now intensely criticizing the games.
"People who have been criticized by some as anti-Japan because of their historical perceptions and other views are now strongly opposing staging the Olympics," Abe said in a discussion published in the current edition of monthly magazine Hanada. As specific examples, Abe cited the Japanese Communist Party and the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which called for the games to be cancelled in an editorial in May.