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Japanese politician and former actor, Tarō Yamamoto has promised that he will prioritise cancelling the Olympic and Paralympic Games if he elected Governor of the Japanese capital next month.
Leader of anti-establishment party Reiwa Shinsengumi, Yamamoto has pledged the cancellation of the Games as his first order of business if elected on July 5.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo 2020, Games, which were originally scheduled for July and August this year, is now due to begin on July 23 next year.
Shinsengumi has also promised all Tokyo residents a relief handout of ¥100,000 (£750/$950/€830) in response to the pandemic.
Incumbent Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is expected to be re-elected, having officially confirmed on Saturday (June 13) that she would run again.
Koike’s handling of the pandemic has been popular during the crisis, unlike her former Liberal Democratic Party colleague and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, who recently had a polled approval rating of only 38 per cent, while 70 per cent supported the Tokyo Governor’s stance.
Yamamoto would likely split the vote from left wing and centrist parties who so far are set to back Kenji Utsunomiya, former head of the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations.
