Over a third of Japanese residents believe the olympics should be canceled. The majority of Japanese residents are unsure whether continuing with the Olympics is the right thing to do. Consider that Japanese culture is non-confrontational, and that 'maybe' is often used as a polite 'no'. Additionally, Japanese follow authoritative edict and avoid dissenting situations because of the social stress it creates.

With an empty audience, the sounds of protestors outside the stadium can be heard.

Parties with direct interest want the olympics to proceed to fulfill financial/contractual obligations, and they are proceeding against the will of the people.

I always felt Google Doodles were about generating good will, establishing rapport and/or promoting about some historical/social topic that some Google employees cares about.

Companies like Toyota have withdrawn their TV commercials in fear of a public backlash, paired with a public statement / apology. I wonder how tone deaf Google is to this sensitive topic in Japan.

It’s better that Google relied on a Tokyo based design firm to create this Doodle and so they can’t be blamed for being culturally insensitive, but small firms jump at the opportunity to collaborate with Google ( Consider all the SaaS startups that advertise on their landing page "Used by [one team at] Google, Uber, ..." ). Especially in Japan where people worship companies and Google is almost divine. The Doodle is filled with kawaii aesthetics and pop/otaku/nerd culture that is the West's prototypical image of Japan, when it's actually just a representation of Akihabara ( one neighborhood in Tokyo too small to even be 1 of the 23 wards ).

Disclaimer: Ex-Googler who quit because of all the performative social justice

Edit: the Tokyo based team is specifically for character design and animation, a field which is exploited even more than people in the game design industry. It seems the rest of the game design was by Google

> Companies like Toyota have withdrawn their TV commercials in fear of a public backlash, paired with a public statement / apology.

Then I don't think anyone told NBC because there are a TON of Toyota ads during Olympics coverage in the US.

They withdrew their ads in Japan but kept them in the United States. This is how different the sentiment is in Japan vs outside. Kind of reaffirms the corporate hypocrisy.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/toyota-scraps-plans-for-olympic...

Same here in India, I can see them in the advertising boards in the background

I don't know why you're being downvoted, what you are saying rings true. I spoke today with my rehabilitation practitioner and even her, as a super Olympics fan who is glad the event happens in her country, find strange the games has no spectators and that the opening ceremony was disappointing. There was opposition to the games (even without covid) to begin with, so it's no surprise there is even more in this particular condition.

> I don't know why you're being downvoted

It's either one of the 100,000+ Google employees, or someone who finds offensive the notion that BigTech is performative.

Or maybe one of the dozen westerners who designed the game and have a vested interest in their performance review and will cite the 'impact'/'engagement' the Doodle had. They're probably refreshing this thread as we speak.

While this doodle is cute - I really have to wonder about the externalities of this that Google doesn't consider.

They have effectively put a game in front of every search result, and are actively encouraging people to play. This has a real cost to productivity and attention.

https://blog.rescuetime.com/the-tragic-cost-of-google-pac-ma...

Similarly, I really have to wonder about the externalities of having windows in office buildings.

While the view they provide can be nice, windows have a real cost to productivity and attention.

Edit: research actually points to the opposite of my teasing comment above. [1] But then again, maybe playing a mini game boosts productivity?

https://journalistsresource.org/environment/daylight-windows...

I already put in a few hours one night instead of working on other stuff. Luckily I finished the game so I have no incentive to interact with it again ;)

Wait till people find out about the Play Store.