[Reporter] To see it is to realize the disconnect.
How can a city under a fourth state of emergency still look so vibrant?
How can there be decrees about no spectators and closing open
air fan zones when the same rigour doesn't apply outside the Olympic bubble?
So what is the reality of Covid's clutch here?
On the surface, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of anxiety.
The thing is, though, in the first 14 days, one of the rules is
we can't get out of the vehicle unless it's at an approved location.
And so in order to try to connect, we got a little help
A freelance crew took a wander for us.
And in the city where emergency rules suggest alcohol not be served,
it is not hard to find booze on offer in crowded, loud underground bars.
[Speaking Japanese]
[Reporter] The reality is, we're not following the emergency rules, says Hidenori Ikeda.
He's not vaccinated.
Not sure he wants to be. He's scared of adverse reactions.
But here's where this gets curious.
He says he's actually very worried about Covid.
That's why he's against the Olympics being here.
[Speaking Japanese]
[Reporter] It's not good if the number of infected people goes up, he adds.
[Speaking Japanese]
[Reporter] One man in one bar.
But crowds are still everywhere.
In the streets
the pachinko parlours.
And that's telling constitutionally Japan cannot order places to close.
It can suggest.
A the pandemic start, people listen, suffered
terribly economically, and now they're just fed up openly resenting
the Olympic influx, even if rules within that bubble are so strict.
I thank you so much for coming.
[Reporter] With a guest pass
political scientist Koichi Nakano was able to come to see us
as you traverse the real world of Tokyo and this Olympic bubble.
How do you explain these two solitudes?
It's very bizarre.
And, of course, you know, we don't know
You know, which side is more secure
What is your sense of the level of apprehension among
the people of this city in this country?
Well, a lot of anxiety. And
quite frankly, I'm really worried about the rise of xenophobic sentiment in Japan.
You know, Japan is an
insular country with its own sort of financial attitude, I have to say.
There is this idea
that Japan is a clean, peaceful country and threats come from outside.
There's persistent sort of feeling of negative idea of,
you know, kind of dangerous foreigners arriving.
This is really not what the Olympics is supposed to be.
[Reporter] Perspective counts.
Japan's brush with Covid hasn't been as acute as many others have endured.
And with more hospital beds per 1000 people
than most other countries, the emergency hasn't yet felt urgent.
But numbers now rise towards a fifth wave.
Just this testing rates come down.
And then there's the slow vaccine rollout.
Why is that?
Step into Dr. Horo Ozaki's busy clinic
as the freelance crew did on CBC's behalf.
Ozaki is the president of the Tokyo Medical Association,
one of hundreds of physicians
worried about hosting the games and vaccinations catching up.
One hurdle, the paper
look, he says, at what he files for one day of Covid shots.
Patients have to wait for vaccination invitations
to come in the mail, and they take a while.
The Japanese system is too many questions.
[Reporter] He suspects if it was all simpler, the vaccinations could happen faster.
But then there's the hesitancy.
Japan is one of the lowest rates of vaccine confidence in the world.
There's a story behind that.
Back in the 90s, complaints about the measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine led Japan to halt it.
Lawsuits made the government responsible for adverse effects.
From 1994, vaccines became optional.
To win trust.
Japan now conducts its own clinical trials.
[Speaking Japanese]
[Reporter] Clinical trials have been conducted in Japan for vaccines
that were already found to be safe, the doctor says.
That's why the introduction of the vaccine was delayed.
It is getting better, but not by much.
He was able to do just 70 shots in one day.
So Dr. Ozaki, aside from being busy, is nervous.
And long before the spectator ban, his prescription was just watch on TV.
Stay home Olympics.
[Reporter] The stay home Olympics.
That is exactly what
is going to happen in a country not yet ready to greet the world.