THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 19, 2021 at 17:20 JST
Toyota Motor Corp.’s company logo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Toyota Motor Corp., a major sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics, will forgo plans to air commercials and send company officials to the Games because of the COVID-19 health crisis.
Jun Nagata, Toyota’s operating officer, on July 19 told reporters that company President Akio Toyoda will not attend the Opening Ceremony on July 23 and other official events of the Games.
Other company officials will not appear at any such events either, Nagata said.
Toyota in 2015 signed a sponsorship agreement with the International Olympic Committee to become part of the Olympic Partner program.
Under the agreement, Toyota has provided the Games with vehicles and mobility-related services.
Toyota has produced commercials that pass on the automaker's message to build a sustainable society through mobility. But they have yet to air in Japan.
Nagata said the company has taken the organizers’ “no-spectator” decision into consideration and decided it will not broadcast any of its Olympic-related commercials in the country during and after the Games.
Survey: 68% doubt Tokyo Olympics can be held safely
July 19, 2021
1st athletes in Olympic Village test positive for COVID-19
July 18, 2021
1st case of COVID-19 at Olympic village in Tokyo
July 17, 2021
Olympic composer apologizes for historic actions
July 17, 2021
‘5th wave’ of COVID-19 cases feared in Tokyo and Osaka
July 17, 2021
IOC’s Bach asks Suga to lift ban on spectators if virus crisis eases
July 16, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
