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The 2020 Olympics will be memorable, but not in the way Japan hoped
2020年奥运会将令人难忘，但不是以日本所希望的方式
Clouds gathered over Komazawa stadium in Tokyo as the Olympic torch arrived on July 9th. Because of the pandemic, the traditional public relay was replaced by a small ceremony behind the stadium’s closed doors. Protesters outside held signs that read “Protect lives not the Olympics” and “Extinguish the Olympic torch”. As Kyogoku Noriko, a civil servant, put it, “Now is not the time for a festival.” More enthusiastic onlookers lined a nearby footbridge, hoping to catch a glimpse of the flame through the stadium’s rafters. For Honma Taka, an office worker, the torch offered “a bit of light within the darkness”.
7月9日，奥运火炬抵达东京的小泽体育场时，乌云密布。由于疫情，传统的公共传递被在体育场紧闭的门后的一个小型仪式所取代。外面的抗议者举着写有“保护生命，而不是奥运”和“熄灭奥运火炬”的标语。正如公务员纪子恭恭所说，“现在不是庆祝节日的时候。”更多热情的旁观者站在附近的人行桥旁，希望通过体育场的椽子看一眼火炬。对于办公室职员本间魏来说，火炬提供了“黑暗中的一丝光明”。
Mr Honma longingly recalled a brighter day in the same park eight years earlier, when he joined thousands of others to celebrate as Tokyo won the right to host the games. Abe Shinzo, Japan’s prime minister at the time, said he was happier than he had been when he became prime minister. Mr Abe saw the Olympics as a chance to lend credence to his bullish catchphrase: “Japan is back”.
本间先生渴望地回忆起8年前在同一座公园里更美好的一天，当时他与数千人一起庆祝东京赢得奥运会主办权。当时的日本首相安倍晋三表示，他比当上首相时更快乐。安倍将奥运会视为一个机会，为他的乐观口号“日本回来了”增添可信度。
He hoped the games would help the country snap out of its gloom after decades of economic stagnation, demographic decline and devastating natural disasters. The games, says Taniguchi Tomohiko, a special adviser to Mr Abe, were seen as a source of “a commodity that was in scarce supply: hope for the future”.
他希望奥运会能帮助日本走出几十年来经济停滞、人口下降和毁灭性自然灾害的阴霾。安倍的特别顾问谷口智彦表示，奥运会被视为“一种稀缺商品：未来的希望” 的来源。
