How about 'Motainai' ?

@Alistair CarnellNOV. 14, 2015 - 07:08AM JST How about 'Motainai' ?

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'Motainai' is not a Japanese language.

'Motainai' is not a Japanese language.

You know exactly what he means. Don't be pedantic.

Takigawa also suggested that it is necessary to create new radio gymnastic exercises or stretching activities so that young and old can get in the right frame of mind to participate and make the Olympic and Paralympic Games successful.

Oh god

@lationzNOV. 14, 2015 - 07:44AM JST 'Motainai' is not a Japanese language. You know exactly what he means. Don't be pedant

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No I don't know. But maybe he meant The Team Mota Disappeared from Olympic?

Toshiki-San, would you prefer he said もったいない? :-)

Interestingly there are several different ways to write that in Kanji.

I couldn't agree more that it is in its current state wasteful. But I see the Olympics as a big chance to make something happen in Japan. Shaking up the old and ushering in a new era. Combined with the business chances TPP will open up, the timing could give the Japanese economy a great stimulus. Is: 新世界への初一歩 too long?

How about "Japanese only". It's already popular and would also help boost medal tally. Two birds with one stone.

Toshiko... For you

学者ぶる人

There, never to old to learn heh ?

Mathew: your last slogan, Use pic maker software, and print, Then send. Make sure bright color is used. on each letter. There are many Japan Inc lining up to advertize. Especially NinTenDo two banners all the time. So any sport events are money making scheme. I think you have very good chance. But don't show to any Japanese. Just print (C) on the bottom center with your name on right side.

How about "Let's Olympics!"

Let's works for everything else around here as a slogan.

Allstair you are writing ro you, you pretend you know Japanese.€€

Omotenashi theoretically should be a good catchphrase, the only problem of course being that there will be many foreigners who will come here and find some not very omotenashi things. Particularly those with tattoos.

Whatever it is…please keep it Japanese. Tired of seeing and hearing English being butchered here with cheesy childish phrases.

@Toshiko:

Allstair you are writing ro you

At least his Japanese makes sense. No idea what you want to say there. Please stay on task here... you're trolling hard and derailing the thread.

Anyway, for a slogan, why not something along the lines of Rebirth? I agree that the Olympics are a huge waste, but if they're going to spin all this planning and re-planning...and then spin it to say it somehow supports Tohoku, why not?

@katbide: With lining up of Japan Inc to spend huge ad minet, Olympic is KANE MOUKE

They could use "熱中症のオリンピック" since the event will take place in high summer.

Mottainai!

Well so far their efforts to organise the Olympics can only deserve one catchphrase..... zannen

I'm not pretending anything Toshiko, how presumptuous of you.

How about this catchphrase. . ."It's all under control!" Hahaha

I have one for the Olympic organizing committee "Get your fricken act together!" And how many millions of yen will they use to select the new slogan?

Tokyo needs a slogan that will get everyone moving forward in the same direction.

Why would everyone want to move in the same direction when those 2020 Olympic is just to serve the financial interest of the few ?

Fukuppics Kawai!

How about, "My Olympic"? That should do it.

How about, "めんどくさい"?

I can't do this anymore, Japan. I just can't. Please. I don't have it in me. Just keep omotenashi. There's more than 4 years to go until 2020 and I just can't take another buzzword.

Why do they even need a buzzword to begin with? This is just going to end badly, guaranteed. They'll hire a panel of amakudari who are already lawmakers and who double at nuclear power plants and in pension funds, they'll not bother asking what they public thinks before they choose something sexist and/or racist that cost them millions of yen and months to think up, then they'll end up retracting it in embarassment later anyway.

Ometenashi is decent, save that a lot of people, if they expect foreigners who visit to pick it up, will stumble over and end up killing the pronunciation. More importantly, though, it's a concept that Japanese try to explain means 'hospitality', but that only possibly Japanese people can have, and it includes the idea that you must conform to certain expectations, thereby not really being hospitality.

How about "disgrace"? There are so many translations for that, but 汚点 (おてん, oten) meaning "blot" or "smear" seems about right. With the country in piles of debt, huge mountains of recovery work still to do after the 2011 tsunami, people displaced, the big business boys in & around govt decide to splash the cash on a big photo op. A few businessmen & politicians will benefit, the majority won't. Look at the history of these things. "Mottainai" was a good suggestion too.

'Minna no Olympic' / 'Everybody's Olympics'- because then Sony can make a bucket load from selling the game and further boost the economy.

'Tokyo Olympic - Fight' (with 'guts pose') - because it mixes the English 'fight' with the Japanese fighting spirit symbolized by 'guts pose'.

'3, 2, 1 Hustle, Hustle' (adapted to 'Bronze, Silver, Gold, Hustle, Hustle') - because then Ogawa Naoya can perform it at the opening ceremony and really confuse... I mean amuse... the whole watching world.

'Tokyo 2020: ♥' (shinzo) - because not only would it represent 'kawaii', but what better way to honour our dear leader Shinzo Abe.

Well yeh, I guess when they threw out the air conditioning, the whole omotenashi thing went out the door.

I hope that catchphrase is less annoying than omotenashi and not over done and driven into the ground.

Irasshakmase. But this will not qork. There is no insinuation of treat visitors kindly.

Considering how the Games will be held in August rather than at a sensible time of the year, perhaps we could choose the phrase that will probably be heard on the streets hundreds of times each minute: Tokyo 2020: Atsui desu ne!

Let's Joyful Olympic.