Japan is not a country known for protests. So when people take to the streets in large numbers, it gets noticed.  The Tokyo Olympics, up until the pandemic, may have been an unlikely target. But with less than 50 days till the start of the event, the majority of the public say they want the Games to be cancelled or postponed again.  It doesn't mean, however, that there aren't supporters of the event.  Recently, I received a passionate message on social media from someone in Japan who was in favour of the Olympics. "The most memorable Olympics I remember watching on TV is the 1984 Los Angeles Games. I was so proud to watch Judo's Yasuhiro Yamashita in tears, with the rising sun flag in the middle, with a gold medal around his neck.  I watched Carl Lewis run so fast and thought he must be God. Olympic athletes are superhumans who exist in real life. That's why I want the Tokyo Olympics to go ahead because I want to watch those athletes." However, the person pleaded for anonymity, as did another person who told me he wanted the Games to go ahead "so that the athletes can show off all the efforts from the last five years". Why? Their answers were almost exactly the same.  "Those against the Games may complain, not just to me but also to my company and I don't want to cause trouble for my colleagues and bosses." A petition against the Tokyo Olympics has collected a record 420,000 signatures.  Ten thousand registered volunteers have quit. Hospitals posted messages on their windows saying "Stop Olympics". Hundreds of cities backed out of hosting athletes.  With a looming national election, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been under enormous pressure with his approval rating having halved since he took office.   When the public realised that the contract between the government and the IOC didn't allow Tokyo to cancel the Olympics without risking future lawsuits, they grew even angrier. It has become an extremely emotional debate where dissenting views are not tolerated to the extent that people who hold them are too scared to come forward - including athletes.  Swimmer Rikako Ikee who inspired many by qualifying for the Olympics two years after being diagnosed with leukaemia received messages on social media, calling for her to withdraw from or oppose the Games.  She replied on Twitter, saying that while it is natural for many people to call for the Games to be cancelled because of the pandemic, "to put that burden on individual athletes is agonising". Rugby player Chiharu Nakamura, who was recently interviewed by the BBC, said on Twitter: "I cannot publicly say I want the Games to go ahead because I know it's athlete's ego."