Wrestle Kingdom is in jeopardy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit a surge in Japan, with the governors of Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures urging the national government to declare a state of emergency with a spike in COVID-19 cases.
In a report by the Japan Times, Tokyo’s governor Yuriko Koike has called upon the government to help limit the movement of people following a massive increase of COVID-19 cases. Saturday saw Tokyo report 814 new COVID-19 cases, which is only two days after the capital set a record with 1,337 cases of infections. It was the first time Tokyo had exceeded the 1,000 mark since the pandemic began, but the nation had already enacted strict quarantine and lockdown measures to help keep cases down. The nation itself set a record on Thursday with 4,520 new cases of COVID-19.
With Tokyo’s governor asking to limit the movement of people and impose lockdown measures, this would certainly put the two day event in jeopardy. Though they have already opted to cap the attendance of the Tokyo Dome at 5,000 due to the outbreak, the company has already said they will not do anything to defy the government and will follow all guidelines laid down.
Previously, New Japan had hoped to have attendance around 16,000-20,000 which is about 40% capacity of the Tokyo Dome, but the country hit a then-record 888 cases on December 23rd, leading to the quick cap.
While NJPW has yet to make an announcement in the wake of this announcement, it’s said that the Japanese government is reluctant to impose a new state of emergency because of economic impact. Japan’s Economic Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura has said a state of emergency could be necessary if cases continue to rise has asked the governors to request businesses shorten their hours, residents avoid nonessential outings after 8pm, and companies make use of remote work.
Japan is also set to host the rescheduled Olympic Games from this past summer as well, but many are in favor of postponing further or outright cancelling the event if the pandemic cannot be controlled during this time.
This is a developing story and we will have more on it as news comes in.
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