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© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Final Tokyo Olympic budget soars 22% to ¥1.64 trillion
By STEPHEN WADE TOKYO©2021 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Freddy Freeway
It seems some new Olympic records will be set, just not by the athletes!
JeffLee
Munich, Montreal, Moscow and it seems, Tokyo. When will officials learn that the hosting the Olympics can have horrible downside risks.
Simian Lane
silly money, the printers must be working round the clock, and meaningless numbers to anyone, the media today is mostly a string of meaningless numbers
dagon
So the true costs are apparent for everyone to see, and will be borne by the government (taxpaying public), but we are going to just continue to quote the lower figures in public forums and the media for appearences, confident that this discrepency will never be questioned.
Sounds like a winning tactic, would be nice to use throughout life in business and legal affairs.
kurisupisu
The Olympics is a massive con job.
The Japanese tax-payer is funding endless rounds of meetings, lawyers, politicians and bureaucrats to line their pockets.
zichi
An Olympic Games review is badly needed with too many countries now spending huge amounts to host the games.
sf2k
A huge loss that could have been avoided instead of following it off a cliff. They should have cancelled
Yubaru
Even this would have been insane! These Olympics have been another money grab for businesses and politicians.
Folks may remember, back before Koike, and then when she got elected, Tokyo was saying "no,no,no," because Tokyo was a cash cow that the national government wanted to tap to pay for it.
Damn if they didnt just "tap" that cow, they close to putting it on life support!
KnowBetter
Final Tokyo Olympic Budget until the next 'Final Tokyo Olympic Budget' is announced.
In the end, there will be no 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics and the legacy left will be the debt the Japanese tax payers will be burden with and wish they could forget.
Sh1mon M4sada
eh, it's only money, think of the poor old IOC delegates who have to put up private jet travels, 5 stars lodging, limousine transfers, and kaiseki in between 3 michelin stars digs.
MarkX
And the kicker is, Japan will probably be one of the bidders for one of the next winter Olympics!
vanityofvanities
More losses than gains financially. It will also become heavy burdens for medical workers and heightens anxieties of the population about the spread of the endemic. I cannot figure out merits of holding the Olympics.
didou
Postponing by 4 years, as well as the following Olympics in Paris and Seattle could have been done. beyond contractual , maintenance of venues, etc. Which at the end would have cost a lot .
But this also would have meant no Olympics chance for some athletes.
didou
And Mori’s wage soars by 22%
vanityofvanities
As it is said "Japanese never stand up." I wonder why Japanese people who oppose holding the Olympic do not stand up and say cancel the Olympic.
kurisupisu
And Mori still can’t remember to wear a mask!
Bernard Marx
There was no question it wouldn't increase. Things are going as planned by the powers that be. We peasants pick up the tab, as usual.
dbsaiya
ANA is hurting from the pandemic and putting employees out to pasture and ruining their livelihood, but they have money to spend on this? United by Emotion, damn right....disgust and outrage!
Mr Kipling
A huge waste of tax payers money. The Olympics is a con. Every single event including LA (they fudged the numbers) has lost billions, yet every bidding city always claims its good for the economy. Well, it IS good for a few selected construction companies and media outlets (Dentsu do quite well too) but overall its a financial disaster.
Just think how this money could have been used.
I really hope its turns into a total disaster so that the people of Japan can finally realise that they have been had.
Sh1mon M4sada
Yes, this ^^^ is all anyone need to say.
For the skeptics, just look at the trail of destructions from Athens to Rio.....and beyond.
expat
Every politician that supported this fiancial black hole should be voted out of office. And one day pigs will fly...
rainyday
What is so annoying about this is that I like sports and international competitions, but the sheer insanity (for lack of a better word) of these Olympics is making me passionately hate both.
Kniknaknokkaer
What a shocking waste of resources when there are people and social projects desperately short of finances. Surely it's time for The Olympics to be reigned in for good, citizens should not allow their governments to be so irresponsible.
marcelito
No worries..Olympic trillion here another trillion there...J-taxpayers can always be relied on to stump up for another tax increase in the near future under the guise of " safeguarding the social security system and such...the money will then be promptly diverted to pork barrel crony projects ala the Olympics, weapons, subsidies for J- Inc etc as usual. Peasants can still be relied on to vote the same LDP lord's in come election time amid sighs of shooganai and there is no alternative" What's not to like?
moonbloom
Keep taking it Japan, it won't change until you do.
robert maes
This budget is an absurd lie and fabrication to allow Dentsu to collect more money from sponsors and government institutions. I challenge the IOC to let me comment on the detailed expenditures. The budget for the postponement should never be higher then 200 million USD.
Kumagaijin
Thats about 120,000 Yen per Tokyo resident. You could make 20 million gold medals for that price.
El Rata
Waste of money, they should use that money to help the people financially affected by the scamdemic. Why do they insist on having their cheerless, masked, watered-down down games? The level stupidity and stubbornness of the IOC and the local organisers is unbelievable.
Weasel
You can always count on bureaucrats always do their part to protect their precious white elephants by downplaying the real costs to taxpayers, and insinuating (without committing) that it's always possible to offset the total cost of the project. I find it highly dubious that any insurance company will honor paying for any of these increased costs, as it's their business model to not payout claims (i.e. expect years of litigation before they even pay out even ¥1).
Considering that price tag has exponentially increased from what it was originally planed for, the idea of eliminating several events to save money is not an unreasonable consideration. There's easily a few dozen "sporting" events that can be cut. If for nothing else, till a vaccine for COVID is readily available to minimize creating super-pools of breading grounds. Hard choices won't be made by those in charge, and Japanese taxpayers can surely expect to see another consumption tax increase to foot the bill of this Three-Card-Monte fleece. The shampoo algorithm at its finest.
Derek Grebe
Japanese government entities are responsible for all of the costs except for 700 billion yen
Correction: Japanese taxpayers, their children and their grandchildren yet unborn will be squeezed until their pips squeak for all of the costs except for 700 billion yen.
What a grotesque boondoggle this is. I'm old enough to remember when we were told that this white elephant had been awarded to us a) because of the economical nature of the bid and b) because it would be the white knight saviour of the Japanese economy, which would bloom and grow forever when foreign visitors fell in love with Japanese culture.
Remember when we didn't have enough money to invest in pensions, or daycare for working mothers? Two weeks of running and jumping will wipe out any hopes of investment in those REAL needs for generations.
This is a crime.
Magnet
Someone's definitely making bank off taxpayers. Time for them to cut their losses and ditch the Olympics.
Chabbawanga
What a mess. Pass the Wakizashi already
kohakuebisu
Most of the facilities being built have no fundamental demand and will need to be propped up with extra cash in the years ahead. This will be tens of millions of USD every year, and will happen regardless of whether the Olympics goes ahead or is cancelled.
Speed
"United by Greed"
Zoroto
This line literally has to appear in every article. The problem is that saying this over and over does not make it true.
Sam Watters
Some schools and community centers remain shut down and businesses have had their hours curbed in Hokkaido because of Covid but, hey, the Olympics must go on. As for me, I plan on recouping some of my lost wages by designing toilet paper with the faces of IOC members and JOC members printed on each sheet. It will be nice to know that when I use it that they are getting their faces rubbed in something they deserve.
smithinjapan
So, now FOUR times the amount they promised for the "compact, economic" Games. And the postponement is just an excuse.
Septim Dynasty
Are you kidding me?
Kentarogaijin
With a country, (and a world), in big trouble for the pandemics it's too much money for that circus..
Random
Mori looks almost lifelike.
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Boycott the Olympics in your personal lives, that's what I'm doing. If everyone did this they'd soon get the message how angry we are at this financial outrage.
I solemnly swear these Olympics are dead to me, and I will not watch one minute of them, buy any merch, or even discuss them with friends and family.
Zoroto
I think he can barely remember his own name.
beentofivecontinents
Around ¥130,158 for every man, woman and child in Japan. Well spent...not !
SandyBeachHeaven
The Simeon leader looks like a Yoda wannaB. When will these dinosaurs quit?
Ascissor
Who was it who was talking about "moribund"? Well I see at least one Mori-bund in the photo.
beentofivecontinents
Mr. Mori,
It must be nice to get high paying job in your late 70s when so many able people in Japan with a much higher mental acuity can't even get one past 65.
beentofivecontinents
...due to rampant ageism.
Zoroto
He doesn't look a day over 90.
Paul
Ohhhh here it is, 22% more money and that is not going to be the end of it, they will be asking for more very very soon!!!! Because they must have this shitshow at any cost!!!!
finally rich
Many big events got suspended indefinitely.
Why they had to postpone it for just 12 months without a single clue the situation would get better?
joey stalin
That's a lot to spend on something that's not going to happen. There's this expression--throwing good money after bad.
itsonlyrocknroll
In an on-line news conference, organizers said the Olympics will now cost 1.64 trillion yen ($15.4 billion) to stage. This is up from 1.35 trillion yen ($12.6 billion) in last year’s budget.
To have committed such a sum to a sporting/event festival, to be fair, without prior warning, or hard evidence that this pandemic would rage out of control, then have to justify such a sum, is simply abhorrent.
There is simply no logical justification or monetary or fiscal reasoning. Investment prioritization needs to focus on the health and welfare of the people and refining a COVID-19 vaccine.
wanderlust
Independent audit earlier in the year estimates the figure to be more than twice this sum. Creative accounting and reporting to conceal the true costs.
zichi
The Gold Medal for overspending goes to Tokyo!
Ashley Shiba
The governments raise money for Olympics, how about raising monies for all those who are suffering including the most disadvantaged the children who are going hungry at home.
Take care of the elderly and the children before taking money and putting it into an event that may never happen, stop.
smithinjapan
Ashley Shiba: "The governments raise money for Olympics, how about raising monies for all those who are suffering including the most disadvantaged the children who are going hungry at home."
Why would they Japanese government do that when they have already proven they can just use the cause to GET the Olympics, like they did with the Tohoku disasters and atomic bombings, and then not help those sufferers one bit, as was pointed out by the author of a book touching on the subject just yesterday.
Wolfpack
Since when has most any Olympic Games been anything other than a money pit put on at mostly public expense to satisfy the egos of the politicians, businessmen, and elitists? The games no longer have a unifying purpose and the athletes are all more or less professionals.