Crowds protest Tokyo Olympics during opening ceremonies—chants heard inside stadium

On Friday night, crowds gathered outside the National Stadium in Tokyo, chanting and protesting against the Olympic Games themselves while the opening ceremonies were taking place inside.

It appears that protesters in Tokyo are upset about the fact that the Olympic Games are continuing, despite a spike in COVID-19 cases in the city.

According to the Daily Wire, "Olympic protesters joined a march through Tokyo Friday, calling for the Games to be canceled in light of a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, Japan. The march ran along one side of the massive Olympic stadium, meant to hold 70,000 but now sitting mostly empty, even during the typically packed Olympic opening ceremonies."

A bunch of protestors using microphones and PA systems talked all through the first hour of the opening ceremonies, and it appears to have been clearly audible by the few people allowed to attend the event in person inside the stadium.

The Tokyo Olympics have just gotten underway on Friday, after a year of pandemic-related delays. Even so, spectators have been banned from entering the now-almost-empty Olympic Stadium, which came with a price tag of over $7 billion. As it is, it is estimated that a large part of the Japanese public is opposed to the Olympic Games being held right now.

According to the Wall Street Journal, even auto manufacturer Toyota, the highest-valued Japanese company, has effected a country-wide boycott of the events, worried about its reputation before a potentially disapproving Japanese populace.