Emperor Naruhito declares opening of Tokyo Olympics: changes wording to "commemorate"
The Tokyo Olympics opened on the 23rd, and
His Majesty the Emperor, who attended the opening ceremony alone, made the
opening declaration in Japanese, "私はここに、第32回近代オリンピアードを記念する、東京大会の開会を宣言します(I hereby declare the opening of the Tokyo Games, commemorating the
32nd Modern Olympiad).
The wording of the Emperor's declaration
was changed from the previous opening declaration to use the word
"commemorate" instead of "celebrate” in Japanese.
The Olympic Charter specifies in detail the
declaration to be read by the head of the host country, and the original
English text has the word "celebrating"; the JOC's translation is
"祝う(celebrate)" but in this draft, that word
has been changed to "記念する(commemorate)," a
change just within the scope of the Japanese translation of "celebrating”.
It is believed that they avoided using the
word "celebrating" in consideration of the public sentiment that the
Olympics and Paralympics were held in a corona disaster, and that many people
are still calling for the cancellation of the Olympics.
This change in the wording of the letter was greeted by many people in Japan who said, "His Majesty is more attentive to the feelings of the people than the Japanese government or the IOC. That's His Majesty the Emperor.”
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