As Olympics near, a Japanese fishing town waits – to say thanks

With the morning sunlight coming in from the window, a group of women wearing masks are singing in unison, lightly swaying to the cadence of the music. Within a few weeks, they hope, they’ll be singing these songs for several U.S. Olympians scheduled to visit after the games.

In a country where the Olympics are so unpopular, it might seem strange that they still elicit excitement here in Ofunato, a fishing town 280 miles north of Tokyo, known for oysters, scallops, and a deeply indented coastline.

Japan was jubilant when it won its bid to host the “Recovery and Reconstruction Games,” marking 10 years of healing and resilience since the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami,A June survey by Asahi newspaper found 62% want the event postponed once again or canceled.