What can Tokyo learn from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as it prepares to host the 2020 Games?

Make sure there are people in the stadia watching the events.

Don't treat your volunteers like crap: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rio-olympic-volunteers-quitting_us_57b33e1de4b0a8e150258123

For that matter, don't use volunteers. With Olympic officials making millions and millions of dollars, the workers should be paid. Either that or the officials should volunteer.

Tokyo won't have the same problems that Rio has had, such as athletes and visitors being robbed, dirty pool water, empty seats, volunteers not showing up.

I think there will be no shortage of volunteers, and you don't pay volunteers, Strangerland. That's why they are called volunteers. It's fun. I was in Sydney in 2000 and everyone was enthusiastic. I'd volunteer for Tokyo 2020, if I could. The Tokyo Olympic Committee reckon they'll need more than 50,000 volunteers. It's really a question of getting time off from work for a few weeks.

I think Tokyo's main problems will be getting the stadium finished on time; they really only have about 3 1/2 years to complete it by the stated target date of May 2020. I think transportation will be an issue. Probably access to Olympic venues should be limited to buses, trains and subways, except for IOC and other VIPs.

Ticketing could be a problem, depending on how it's done.

Another possible problem will be the shortage of hotel rooms. Even if Air BnB becomes more popular, I don't see there being enough rooms in the metropolitan region, and that includes Yokohama.

I think there will be no shortage of volunteers, and you don't pay volunteers, Strangerland. That's why they are called volunteers.

Thanks, I hadn't realized that. You learn something new every day.

Regardless, it's still disrespectful to not pay these people, and even make them pay their own transportation costs, when the people running the Olympics are making small fortunes.

Regardless, it's still disrespectful to not pay these people, and even make them pay their own transportation costs, when the people running the Olympics are making small fortunes.

Well, being honest. Those volunteers in Brazil were stupid. They knew from the beginning they would not even get drinkable water - it was news here for years. I am not saying that it is right to not provide them with basic needs, but they knew what was coming their way. On the other hand, there are thousands of volunteers cheering up and enjoying being there. Olympics is not only about money, it's about fun as well.

Tokyo doesn't need to learn anything from Rio.

Tokyo put forth a magnificent Olympics in 1964, not even 20 years removed from a devastating world war.

Tokyo is already has much of the infrastructure in place for tourism. It's a relatively safe city, not overly polluted, has many modern amenities, and plenty of fun things to do outside of the Olympics.

The city of Tokyo will do fine in hosting the 2020 Olympics.

Take anything the U.S. Men's swimming team might try to say about being held up and robbed at knifepoint while partying in Roppongi with a grain of salt and a lot of skepticism...

No offense to Rio, but I think Tokyo will do fine, especially compared to Rio.

Don't allow doping athletes if you don't want some of the guilty ones to be booed.

Give equal time and publicity to female athletes as male athletes.

set realistic gold medal targets

That there will be a lot of self-entitled gaijin like Ryan Lochte who have no respect for local culture and likely will cause some sort of trouble.

They will make up stories to absolve themselves so make sure there are extra security cameras installed and any incident is video recorded.

Give equal time and publicity to female athletes as male athletes.

And give equal time and publicity to non-Japanese athletes as Japanese athletes.

I don't even want to think how crowded public transport will be during the games. And I don't want to begin to imagine how many runners will drop dead due to heat exhaustion during the marathon.

But yes, visitors won't have to worry about Rio-style crimes.

It's really a question of getting time off from work for a few weeks

Piece of cake in this country!

Have the volunteers wear a T-shirt or logo or sash etc of sponsors who pay for their transit and minor food and water expenses. Those volunteers are in front of everyone everyday, use that marketing opportunity to pay for their services. It's still volunteering if it's a stipend. Companies pay staff in Japan for transit all the time, TOC should be no different.

Have volunteers work no more than 8 hours a day, and less on days over 30 C. Have a heat health policy in place. Plan for more staff to cover shift rotation.

Have volunteers wear a button for a language they speak other than Japanese. That visibility helps and ads to the international vibe

Teach Japanese sports to also cheer for non-Japanese players. Teach them not to cry if they don't win gold or silver or bronze, but appreciate their fellow competitors and their personal victories too. Imagine people more complexly. Teach sportsmanship.

Tokyo is great to walk around (if you're a walker like me) since it's 100 downtowns stitched together. Also of course trains and subways. However people move around, make it a checklist game like a scavenger hunt so tourists are disbursed around the city not just in predictable tourist traps. Reward tourists with a prize if they go to all the areas in the list

Turn off passwords for Wifi in the downtown. No passwords during Olympics.

Give restaurants a simple list of phrases in 3 languages on tables so people can order or ask simple questions. Put responses on the sheet as well so Waitresses/Waiters can then point back at predictable answers. That helps

Close down racist or Japanese-only restaurants and other businesses during the Olympics

What SF2k said.

That temps in the 20-30 degree range are ideal for events. Unlike the 35 degree plus temps we're likely to see at the Tokyo games. Schedule it for mid to late September. It's still hot in Tokyo in September, but at least no one may die from heat exhaustion.

Make sure the tickets are available to all as cheaply as possible. The empty stadiums are unacceptable. Make sure facilities are finished and adequate. Proper security. The Paralympics are equally as important and should be promoted the treated the same as the Olympics. I feel sorry for the Rio paralympians, many of whom now can no longer go to Rio and even if they do get there is no guarantee their event will take place. Rio's treatment of the paralympics is an utter disgrace.

This Olympics (sic) was a massive wet T-shirt competition - and then someone stole the T-shirts. The 'Olympic Spirit' is for sale.

Do something to drunk idiots who intrude into residential areas making noise party through the night as Tokyo is much safer

Make sure that camera also focuses on players from other nations, especially the sportsmen and women who win medals, even when there are Japanese participants in the event.

I am serious.

Not to cast PM Abe as "Super Mario".

Not to cast PM Abe as "Super Mario".

What would lead them to learn that as a lesson? By all accounts it was very successful.