I don't remember for sure whether it was Rousseau or Locke who said that the people under the representative democracy are free only during the election and after the election ends, they are nothing but slaves.
But, since I came to Japan from Texas seven years ago, never have I felt this quote so true as at present.

Though about 80 per cent of the Japanese people insist that the Olympics should be called off, the government so far won't change its mind. People in any democratic states could take direct actions, say, demonstration or strike, to show their opinions publicly.
The emergency edict due to the epidemic strictly prevents them from these sorts of actions. It may be that Japanese authorities regard this epidemic as actually convenient because they can restrict people's freedom and right boldly now.

At any rate, it is an iffy question whether the Japanese government is more than willing to protect the democracy or desires at heart to put the clock back before 1945．