Photos: Tokyo sets the stage for pandemic era Olympics

Tokyo has been in and out of soft coronavirus induced lockdowns over the last year. But the Covid-19 pandemic isn't over yet and there are still strong calls to cancel or postpone the Olympics. A quasi-state of emergency remains in place just a month before the Games begin. Light and shadows are the hallmarks of these Games, and Tokyo is a second-time host. A look at the city with less than a month for the official opening night.

Published on: Jun 29, 2021 3:07 PM IST

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A view of the illuminated Tokyo Tower, pictured from the Sky Deck of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo,on June 2. The Tokyo Tower and other landmarks were lit in special Olympic colours in April to mark 100 days before the Summer Games opened. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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Shouko Totsuka, a Miko also known as a shrine maiden, stands for a photograph inside the tunnel of Red Torii Gate at the Hie-Jinja Shinto Shrine in Tokyo on June 1. Light and shadows are the hallmarks of Olympic Games, the second time Tokyo is the host. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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People crossing a road in Shinjuku, Tokyo on June 3. Half a century earlier, in 1964, the Games heralded a new era of modernity for a city risen from the ashes of a war that had ended fewer than two decades before. Their symbol was the sleek high-speed bullet trains that began running just days before the opening ceremony, Reuters reported. (Androniki Christodoulou / REUTERS)

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A Yurikamome line train, a driverless automatic train system, travels past buildings in Tokyo on April 21. In April 2020, the trains glided through Tokyo with most seats empty. Residents were asked to stay home as the pandemic swept through Japan and the world. The Olympics had been postponed a month earlier. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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The head of Godzilla is displayed on the 8th floor of Gracery hotel in Kabukicho, a nightlife area in Shinjuku, Tokyo on June 3. "I can't seem to enjoy myself as much as I did last time," an elderly woman who saw the first Games said to her husband as they rested during a stroll - in the evening, to avoid the virus, Reuters reported. "It's disheartening, like somebody else's problem. I don't feel like it's being held in my country," she added. (Androniki Christodoulou / REUTERS)

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Boats sail past the giant Olympic rings and the Rainbow Bridge on the waterfront area of Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo on April 2. The pandemic isn't over yet. There are still strong calls to cancel or postpone the Olympics. A quasi-state of emergency remains in place just a month before the Games begin. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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An aerial view of buildings in Shibuya, Tokyo on June 1. The games will be held in a "safe bubble" of vaccinated athletes and delegations, a celebration of sport divorced from the host city and its people, Reuters reported. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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Cast members Hitomi, Kashima and Chia-can, greet guests at 'At-home Cafe', a maid cafe that is a subset of cosplay restaurants, in Akihabara district, Tokyo on June 8. Life has gone on even as the city lurches in and out of soft lockdowns. Streets have emptied on some nights, filled on others with people and the hubbub of life. (Issei Kato / REUTERS)

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A teamLab staff member works inside the "Floating Flower Garden," which consists of a three-dimensional mass of flowers, at teamLab Planets in Tokyo on June 3. Tokyo is like a kaleidoscope with countless geometric patterns, the colours of the pattern changing slightly depending how the tube is tilted and how the light enters. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)

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A gardener makes wave-shaped patterns, known as 'samon', at Karesansui, a traditional Japanese Dry Landscape, at Takao Komagino Garden in Hachioji on the outskirts of Tokyo, on June 7. Tokyo is never boring. It has survived earthquakes and war. It will survive the coronavirus. (Kim Kyung-Hoon / REUTERS)