Photo/Illutration Yutaka Iimura, second from right, submits signatures demanding the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics to Mitsuchika Tarao, vice governor of Tokyo, on July 19. Chizuko Ueno is seen at the far left and Mikio Haruna at the far right. (Takaya Katada)

A group of 14 academics, writers, journalists and others has submitted a petition with about 140,000 signatures to the Tokyo metropolitan government in a last-ditch plea to cancel the Olympics.

Chizuko Ueno, a prominent sociologist and one of the organizers behind the petition, and other members of the group officially submitted it to the metropolitan government on July 19.

“It’s insane to go ahead with the Olympics under the current circumstances, where we’re facing the spread of the novel coronavirus and other challenges,” Ueno said afterward at a news conference held at the government office building. “We call for the cancellation of the Games.”

Ueno and Yutaka Iimura, a former Japanese ambassador to France, led the petition drive. Other notable organizers include philosopher Tatsuru Uchida and nonfiction writer Hisae Sawachi.

They launched the petition drive on Change.org on the morning of July 2, demanding that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, the International Olympic Committee, the Japanese Olympic Committee, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and other parties involved call off the Olympics.

The petition is offered in Japanese, English, French, Spanish and German, and had collected some 139,000 signatures as of 5 p.m. on July 19, although the organizers said they will continue to collect more.

Ueno said it is a significant achievement that the petition has garnered so many signatures in such a short period of time.

“We’ve seen the government completely ignore the voices of the people,” she said. “We’ll keep voicing opposition until the very last minute.”

Iimura said holding the Games while asking the public to refrain from going out is causing confusion among the public and risks creating turmoil.

“The issue not only concerns Japan but also the rest of the world,” he said. “We want the Games’ organizers to make the decision for the sake of the future of Japan as well.”

The text of the petition declares that authorities failed to provide the public with a convincing explanation of how they will ensure a “safe and secure” Games amid rising infections in the greater Tokyo area and Japan’s low vaccination rate.

The petition’s message also points to growing anger toward the “absurdity” of proceeding with the Olympics, which the authors argue could lead to countless cluster infections, while at the same time asking the public to exercise self-restraint in their daily lives.

It said more and more people in Japan feel helpless as the Olympic organizers press on with the Games, and that many see no point in raising their voices at this point.

The petition’s message said that with the Games just around the corner, it offers one last chance for people to speak out. It called on the government to cancel the Tokyo Olympics, which it described as a “historic outrage.”

Lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya also launched a separate online petition calling for the cancellation of the Olympics.

Utsunomiya submitted on July 15 more than 450,000 signatures he collected, along with a written request demanding the Games be canceled, which was addressed to Koike, Suga, Tamayo Marukawa, the minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and Seiko Hashimoto, chief of the Games’ organizing committee.

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