Japanese PM Accused Of Using Olympics As Political Distraction

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened parliament on Monday with an annual policy speech "without any mention of the controversies hanging over his government," but he was "full of passion" about the Tokyo Games. The government is facing allegations of "bribery and favor-trading." However, Abe mentioned the Olympics and Paralympics "more than 10 times" as he evoked the spirit of Japan’s last Games in '64, which also was used to "symbolically announce" the country’s return to the global stage after World War II. He said that this summer's Games will "cement" this turnaround by bringing "all the people of Japan together to walk forward into a new age." Japanese newspaper The Mainichi accused the prime minister of trying to "deceive the public by using the Olympics to distract them from recent scandals" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/23).