Japan’s ski resorts, usually inundated with Australians in January and February, are doing it tough as two successive seasons of border closures means the slopes are empty.
Japan’s ski resorts, usually inundated with Australians in January and February, are doing it tough as two successive seasons of border closures means the slopes are empty.
Photo courtesy of Japan National Tourism Organization
This year s Olympics will be strange, for sure. Postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the much-anticipated Summer Games will finally take place in Tokyo, Hokkaido, Fukushima and other locations in Japan from July 23 to August 8, followed by the Paralympics from August 24 to September 5.
Even though they re being staged in 2021, officially it’s still called the 2020 Summer Olympics. In addition, no overseas visitors will be allowed to attend, and even the number of domestic spectators will be severely limited.
Nevertheless, the world’s focus will soon be on the more than 11,000 athletes competing in 33 sports and 339 events, who will face plenty of restrictions of their own. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Japan, where fewer than 10 percent of the population had been vaccinated in the weeks prior to the Games, athletes will be tested for the coronavirus daily, are not allowed to socialize or visit tourist ar