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French president Emmanuel Macron speaks at the press conference after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Fort de Bregancon, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, south-east of France, on August 20, 2020. French president Emmanuel Macron meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel to try to strengthen the understanding of the Franco-German couple on the many hot European and international issues.
(Pool/AFP/Christophe Simon )
Leaders from around 15 countries and international organizations are slated to visit Japan for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, the government's top spokesman said Wednesday, down from the roughly 40 that attended the same event for the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a press conference about 70 Cabinet-level officials are also set to visit Japan, while adding that the number of foreign VIPs attending the ceremony at the National Stadium on Friday night could remain in flux until the last minute.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene are among the world leaders who have announced their attendance, as has US first lady Jill Biden.
A senior Foreign Ministry official has said the recent global rage of coronavirus variants has led many leaders to cancel their Japan visits.
Read also: No change in Jill Biden's plan to travel to Japan for Olympics
Kato suggested the leaders' visits will provide Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga with a "valuable opportunity to build up personal relationships" at a time when face-to-face diplomacy is being constrained by the pandemic.
Most of the Tokyo Olympics including the opening ceremony will be held without spectators from the general public as the capital remains under a COVID-19 state of emergency.
