The cost of the Games is expected to balloon by billions of dollars because of the delay.

Indeed, any continuing safety issues will compound the logistical headache already developing for officials in Japan. Questions about securing competition venues, hotels for visitors and housing for 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from more than 200 countries, for example, remain mostly unanswered.

An I.O.C. spokesman said on Tuesday that Olympic organizers would adhere to the World Health Organization’s ongoing guidance about mass gatherings during the pandemic and move forward with the aim of holding the Games “only in a safe environment for all people involved.”

The I.O.C. and Japan have given themselves one shot to get it right. On Tuesday, Yoshiro Mori, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee, was quoted in a Japanese newspaper as saying the Games would be “scrapped” if they could not take place in the summer of 2021.

“The Olympics would be much more valuable than any Olympics in the past if we could go ahead with it after winning this battle,” Mr. Mori told the Nikkan Sports daily. “We have to believe this. Otherwise, our hard work and efforts will not be rewarded.”

As of Monday, Japan’s coronavirus death toll stood at 376, and its national caseload was over 13,000. Dr. Yokokura told reporters on Tuesday that he thought it was still too early to consider lifting the country’s state of emergency.

While the world waits for the pandemic to run its course, small moments of friction have hinted at possible complications between the I.O.C. and Japan in the year to come.

Earlier this month, some Japanese officials were irked about a Q. and A. published on the I.O.C. website that included a passage about the financial impact of postponing the Games.