Nagoya city Mayor Takashi Kawamura bites the

Olympic gold medal of the softball athlete Miu
Goto during a ceremony in Nagoya, central Japan
on August 4, 2021

Medal-munching mayor sparks outrage in Japan amid the pandemic

"I forgot my position as Nagoya mayor and acted in an extremely inappropriate way,' Takashi Kawamura said in a televised apology.

By Edward Era Barbacena

TOKYO — A Japanese mayor apologized on Thursday after having his head bitten off on social media for chomping down on the gold medal of a hometown Olympic hero in spite of Covid-19 concerns.

Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura outraged his Covid-aware countrymen by taking off his mask and mouthing the medal of victorious softball pitcher Miu Goto as the cameras were rolling. And all while standing in front of a sign which warns people to wash their hands and social distance to prevent the virus from spreading.

“I saw the video and heard his teeth making a clicking noise,” Naohisa Takato, who won the gold medal in the 60-kilogram judo competition at the Tokyo Olympics, tweeted.

“I handle my medal very carefully so that it won’t get scratched. The fact that Goto maintained her composure and didn’t get angry was incredible. I would have cried.”

Biting medals to test for gold was a common jokey gesture among victorious athletes in the pre-Covid days, but it's frowned upon now especially as the number of cases has risen rapidly in Japan since the Olympics got underway on July 23.

Japanese authorities were so alarmed a state of emergency was declared in Tokyo ahead of the games, which banned all fans from the stands. And on Thursday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 5,042 new Covid-19 cases, which is a new record.

The Japanese public consistently opposed hosting the Games amid the coronavirus pandemic, though sentiment has seemed to shift toward grudging acceptance as some see their worries that the Olympics would worsen the country's Covid-19 crisis give way to joy at a growing medal count.