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In this May 21, 2021, file photo, CEO of the Tokyo 2020 Toshiro Muto, left, and President of the Tokyo 2020 Seiko Hashimoto, right, listen to IOC Vice President John Coates, (on screen), delivering a speech during the Tokyo 2020 IOC Coordination Commission press conference in Tokyo. Comments from Coates saying the Tokyo Olympics will go on even if the city is under a state of emergency have stirred a backlash in Japan. Coates made the statement a few days ago. He repeated what the IOC and local organizers have been staying, but his tone was almost defiant and has stirred things up. (Nicolas Datiche/Pool Photo via AP, File) **FILE**

John Coates, IOC vice president, faces backlash saying Olympics are on, no matter virus

By Stephen Wade and Yuri Kageyama - Associated Press

In this April 19, 2021, file photo, a restaurant staff member, center, stands in the middle of a street to promote her establishment at one of the famous commercial districts in Osaka, western Japan, as some of the businesses have closed under the government measures against the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

‘Like hell’: As Olympics loom, Japan health care in turmoil

By Mari Yamaguchi and Kantaro Komiya - Associated Press

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach delivers an opening speech on a screen at a meeting of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Tokyo on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, while Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee President Seiko Hashimoto listens. Bach, Hashimoto, Japanese Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike attended a three-day meeting. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool Photo via AP)

IOC offers Tokyo medical help amid calls to cancel Olympics

By Stephen Wade - The Washington Times

South Korean President Moon Jae-in answers reporter's question after he delivered a special address to mark the fourth anniversary of his inauguration at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, May 10, 2021. South Korea's leader said Monday he'll use his upcoming summit with President Joe Biden to push to restart diplomacy with North Korea, saying that Biden favors a diplomatic, phased approach to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. (Choi Jae-gu/Yonhap via AP) **FILE**

China threat looms large as South Korea’s Moon prepares for Biden summit

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

People carry a banner reading "Extinguish the Olympic torch" during a march, calling for the cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to be held in the middle of a pandemic, in Tokyo, Monday, May 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Japanese doctors call for Olympics cancelation

By Andy Kostka - The Washington Times

In this Feb. 24, 2021, file photo, people walk past posters to promote the Olympic Games scheduled to start in the summer in Tokyo. Frustration is mounting over Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s request that people cooperate while he pushes to hold the Olympics in just over two months. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File) **FILE**

IOC says negative public opinion is no threat to Tokyo Games

By Graham Dunbar - Associated Press

A man wearing a protective mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks past a banner for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The Japanese capital confirmed more than 920 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Frustration in Japan as PM Yoshihide Suga pushes Olympics despite the coronavirus

By Mari Yamaguchi - Associated Press

An ignition ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic torch relay is held at Heiwadai Athletic Stadium in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The torch relay was taken off public roads due to the coronavirus pandemic. The next week's torch relay is being pulled off the streets in Hiroshima prefecture, too, as COVID-19 cases rise in Japan. This is at least the sixth change to the relay - from rerouting to cancellation - in the last several weeks as cases surge in Japan. Organizers warned before the relay began that changes and delays were expected in the face of the pandemic. (Kyodo News via AP)

Tokyo Olympic torch relay pulled off streets in Hiroshima

By Stephen Wade - Associated Press

In this file photo, then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks during a news conference in Chicago. Mr. Emanuel, who also previously served as White chief of staff in the Obama administration, was nominated to be ambassador to Japan on August 20, 2021(AP Photo/Matt Marton) **FILE**

Rahm Emanuel to be ambassador to Japan: Report

By Michael Balsamo and Aamer Madhani - Associated Press

Japan's Kei Nishikori returns the ball to Italy's Fabio Fognini during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Monday, May 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Nishikori raises questions about holding the Tokyo Olympics

By ANDREW DAMPF - Associated Press

FILE - In this April 28, 2021, file photo, IOC President Thomas Bach, on a screen, waves to Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto at the start of a five-party meeting of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Bach has canceled a trip in May 2021 to Japan because of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Monday, May 10, 2021 in a statement. Hashimoto said last week that the trip would be “tough” for Bach to make, which was interpreted in Japan as meaning it was canceled. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP, File)

IOC’s Thomas Bach cancels Japan trip because of virus cases

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga responds to a reporter's question after he spoke at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, May 7, 2021. Suga announced an extension of a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Japan’s PM Yoshihide Suga: ‘I’ve never put the Olympics first’

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, listens to a reporter's question during a press conference as Coe visited an athletics test event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games at National Stadium in Tokyo, Sunday, May 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Two Tokyo Olympics: Inside and outside the National Stadium

By STEPHEN WADE and YURI KAGEYAMA - Associated Press

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, speaks during a press conference Friday, May 7, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Hashimoto said Friday that a planned visit to Japan this month by IOC President Thomas Bach seemed unlikely with a state of emergency order being extended by the government to Tokyo and other areas until May 31.(Kyodo News via AP)

Tokyo Olympic head says Bach visit to Japan could be ‘tough’

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

Commuters wearing face masks walk through a station passageway in Tokyo Friday, May 7, 2021. Japan is set to expand and extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31 as the coronavirus continues spreading and uncertainty grows about safely holding the Olympics just 11 weeks away. (Yuta Omori/Kyodo News via AP)

Packed trains, drinking: Japanese impatient over virus steps

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

In this March 25, 2021, file photo, a &quot;No Olympics&quot; banner is placed by protesters in Tokyo during a demonstration against the going ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

Anti-Olympic petition gains tens of thousands of signatures

By YURI KAGEYAMA and STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

A nurse receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Fujita Health University Hospital in Toyoake, Aichi prefecture, central Japan, on March 8, 2021. Some nurses in Japan are incensed at a request from Tokyo Olympic organizers to have 500 of them dispatched to help out with the games. They say they’re already near the breaking point dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo News via AP)

Tokyo Games need 500 nurses; nurses say needs are elsewhere

By YURI KAGEYAMA and STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

Illustration on Biden, corporate tax rate and government spending by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Biden’s woke economics will lead to disaster

By Peter Morici

FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013, file photo, a Japanese Coast Guard boat and vessel sail alongside Japanese activists' fishing boat, not in photo, warning the activists away from a group of disputed islands called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. Japan on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, said its military has raised caution levels around the Senkaku islands that it controls but are also claimed by Beijing after six Chinese warships passed near the area and a reconnaissance helicopter flew toward it. (AP Photo/Emily Wang, File)

China criticizes Japan over Fukushima treated water release

Associated Press

South Korea and Japan Cooperation Illustration by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Time is ripe for cooperation between South Korea and Japan

By Mitchell Blatt