Japan still wrestling with legacy of graft-stained Olympics

Olympics? I’ll just change the channel.

But Yamaguchi, who stepped down from the board just before the Olympics, said the gap between expectations and reality left people "wondering who the event was for".

It is in the first sentence. The even was for those benefiting from the graft staining.

The article too graciously skirts around naming names but you have Abe, Dentsu, Aoki, there were a wealth of beneficiaries who enjoyed the games immensely.

Just not the Japanese public picking up the bill.

Let’s not forget the pandemic, which somehow wasn’t enough to put the brakes on this mess of an event.

If Japan never has another Olympics, Asian Games, World Expo it can't come too soon. Each of these events are huge boondoggles costing billions of yen all for nothing. But the groups who want Japan to bid and host know that they can always count of them to step up with our money!

Let’s not forget the pandemic, which somehow wasn’t enough to put the brakes on this mess of an event.

While Japan has work need to be done, failing economies, decline birthrates, stagnant wages etc.

At that time JGovt just drag all attention to Tokyo Olympics, now we can see where billing tab still need to be paid by many parties.

"Even if the pandemic hadn't happened, the dishonesty, the inappropriate statements from the people at the top and the cost would all still have happened," said Hirokazu Arai, a professor specializing in sports psychology.

One of the greatest deceits of the Tokyo Olympics was the Japanese government’s minimal COVID testing resulting in an underreporting of cases.

After months of propaganda in early 2020 claiming that Japan had COVID under control, cases mysteriously and dramatically surged the week after Tokyo was forced to delay the event.

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https://abcnews.go.com/International/japans-sudden-spike-coronavirus-cases-tokyo-olympics-postponement/story?id=70041840

After months of propaganda in early 2020 claiming that Japan had COVID under control, cases mysteriously and dramatically surged the week after Tokyo was forced to delay the event.

That's still mystery until now, nobody knows about actual cause. Except JGovt.

The battering that the image of the Olympics took in Japan proved fatal for Sapporo's Winter Games bid, which was initially pushed back from 2030 to 2034, then dropped in December altogether.

A silver lining for the disaster, lots of money wasted, and a dive on the image of the games for the public, but at least it was obvious enough to make it impossible to force the population in Sapporo do the same.

The graft in Japan was no different to that at all previous Olympics and those that will follow. They are built on a lie that the host city benefits. Some companies and individuals do very well but no hosting city has ever made a dime, cent or yen.

Lets not forget the greed and arrogance of the IOC.....

It was dubbed the "recovery and reconstruction" olympics for the Tohoku region, but the region didn't benefit at all. When the olympics were announced all the labor and construction equipment needed for the area moved to Tokyo. Now with the cost overrun everyone in Japan has to ante up, including the people of the Tohoku area. If memory serves, not one politician was ever indicted for corruption, only the commercial sector, so no wonder people are left with a rancid taste in their mouth. Seeing it all being played out again in Osaka.

As examples of the Olympics' decline, now gold medals get awarded to 14-year-old girls in leotards who toss rubber balls into the air, turn somersaults and then catch them. I refuse to acknowledge this as a sport. Likewise for curling in the winter olympics, which is almost as silly. Beach volleyball, ping pong and badminton are borderline. Likewise team sports like baseball and basketball played by professional athletes. My response is to unplug my TV for the duration.

Based on the original Greek spirit, the games were to be suspended in times of war. That was the case up to 1944, but certainly not for 2024, alas.

Droll QuarryToday  07:39 am JST

Lets not forget the greed and arrogance of the IOC.....

Yes, they were certainly complicit in the whole affair, but let's not overstate their involvement. This was primarily a Japan-based case of bribery and other corruption.

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and key figures within Japan were the primary actors involved in the bribery scandal.

… now gold medals get awarded to 14-year-old girls in leotards who toss rubber balls into the air, turn somersaults and then catch them. 

And if we’re going to have four separate events for swimming (i.e., freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly), why don’t we have the same in track: 100 dash, 100 backwards, 100 hopping, and 100 skipping.

Of course, I’m being facetious.

In both swimming and track, we should have only one event for each distance. Get from Point A to Point B using whatever technique works best for you.

"The modern Olympics have a history of over 100 years, but if you can't explain what the point in having them is, people will think that they're just another event that costs money," she said.

The Japanese people know full well that only a minority, self serving and conniving benefit from these spectacles.

Bring that Mori isn't in jail for corruption, they can't be wrestling too hard.....

LA always does the Olympics with style and under budget (they even make a profit!) All of the facilities exist, from sporting venues to athlete dormitories, so nothing has to be built, and LA adores sporting events. Perhaps the Olympics should simply be held in LA every four years (or some other similarly equipped city not requiring massive investment).

I'll watch the Olympics to see how the crowd reacts to Israel.

I'll watch the Olympics to see how the crowd reacts to Israel.

Me too! I was thinking the same thing!

A silver lining for the disaster, lots of money wasted, and a dive on the image of the games for the public, but at least it was obvious enough to make it impossible to force the population in Sapporo do the same.

Agree. I wasn't even aware that the bid was dropped but very glad to hear that it was.

Invite the IOC to town, you're going to get corruption.

They're not wrestling with anything except improving methods to get away with it. No one was punished, so why would they not do it again and then some?

I had a successful sports marketing company. For the 2nd time. But I got tired of having to fight incompetent but corrupt Dentsu and Hakuhodo who got all the government national and regional funds. It was just to frustrating. And it was not only for the Olympics but for every sport or entertainment event. It is now the same for the expo2025, South East Asian games 2026 and the reason the Sapporo bid was redrawn had nothing to do with the “ feelings” of the Japanese people.( since when does government card about that. The Sapporo bid was redrawn because Dentsu again was hired and again corruption was so bad even IoC thought it to dangerous and obvious. That my company was indeed successful is proven by the fact I have now 4 companies in 3 continents.

Why the tokyo Olympics weren't pushed back to 2024 is beyond me.

It is just a typical "contemporary Olympic spirit", heavily reflecting private sector's desire for profit making and that of politicians for face-saving and for leaving legacy, that was exhibited in organization of Tokyo Olympic. Due to the circumstances at the time and the negative public opinion, we felt this Olympic spirit more acutely than before. On top, IOC conspired to spoil the party by blessing the event excluding the public.

Not to mention the graft and corruption of Japan's previous Olympic Games in Nagano in '98. All paperwork, emails and records related to the corruption probe magically "disappeared." The people are getting tired of it.

Not only Olympics, big events including Expo held at Japan are mere pretext for plutocracy that government and ruling party LDP profit pro-LDP corporations with vast taxpayers money and get contribution from them.

The Olympics, F.I.F.A. It's all about corruption, sport comes second.