Petition With 350,000 Signatures Wants Tokyo Games Canceled

TOKYO -- AP -- An online petition with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the Tokyo Games to be canceled has been submitted to local organizers, the International Olympic Committee and others.  The Olympics are scheduled open in 10 weeks on July 23. The petition was drafted by well-known lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya.

Get our free mobile app

He has also run for governor of Tokyo. He says the response was surprising but acknowledged that "tens of millions" of signatures were likely needed at this late stage. Public sentiment against the Olympics seems to be rising. Between 60-80% of the Japanese public consistently say they games should not be held with surging cases of COVID-19.