olympics

After Rio, Tokyo eyes safe, smooth 2020 Olympic Games

18 Comments
By Hiroshi Hiyama

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2016 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

18 Comments
Login to comment

Hate to rain on everyone's parade but we've got nuke plants, and earthquakes galore. Read the story that the ice wall at Fukushima isn't working? I can see a lot of Fukushima clean up news getting swept under the rug to keep bad news from reaching the world to avoid a Zika type scare. Good luck Tokyo, you're going to need it.

-1 ( +8 / -9 )

Just make sure Ryan Lochte does not show up.....you'll be fine then!

2 ( +8 / -6 )

I have to say I think the Tokyo games will go off in good fashion. A few hiccups? I'm sure there'll be few, but on the whole, the vast majority of visitors will be impressed with Japanese style organization and preoccupation of being hospitable.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I think Tokyo will do fine. Organisation and logistics wont be a problem for Japan, reckon most venues will sell out or close to and I don't see J fans booing athletes from other nations.

Unlike Brasil which is very much a one/few sports nation (football, daylight, volley, daylight...the rest), J ppl are usually open to a wide range of sports (that includes sports they don't excel at).

Another big plus, 4/5 of the world population live in a similar time zone (APAC), or decent one in terms of tv viewing (Europe, Africa). No doubt Japan will do well, provided Mother Nature does not strike.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Other than the heat, which could very possibly end up in an athlete's death from overheating, the games should go off no problem. Japanese people are really good at organizing.

I still find it mind-boggling that they'd hold them in August. It's uncomfortable to be outside on some days, much less exerting one's self to the best of their ability.

I wonder what they'll do if we run into days like to day - typhoon days. Will they cancel events?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I just came here from reading an article about women in Tokyo being slashed....

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Still 4 years to go, anything, ANYTHING can happen. So lets wait making any 'safety' judgements until we are at least in 2020.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Safe? Most probably (if we exclude chikan and serial slashers). Smooth? We'll see.

By the way, how's the main stadium coming along?

Some more to-do's:

Get rid of those signs which say 'Japanese only'.

Tell people not to be afraid of foreigners. Or try not to hate foreigners.

Make more restaurants lung-friendly and cancer-free.

Hide Yasukuni during mid-August.

And for the local media: please remember non-Japanese athletes will also be competing. They will exist.

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

Looking at this thread it's clear naysayers and doomsayers will enjoy the next 4 years!

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Accommodation is the most serious concern I think. AirBnB has been wiped out in Tokyo so am not sure how we'll cope, besides that absurd love hotel program which has no chance of taking off. Safety and transport-wise, there are no risks whatsoever. I also don't think there will be too many empty events like Rio, so am hoping for reasonably priced tickets

1 ( +2 / -1 )

They may be eyeing a safe, smooth Games in 2020, but they were also eyeing a cheap, compact Games, too, and we all know how corruption and greed changed that. I think there are many, many advantages over Brazil in terms of infrastructure, low crime, and a few other aspects, but there are other elements the government had better crack down on before 2020 to avoid it being rife with disaster. And I think, in all honesty, the Games could be advantageous to Japan as a whole in terms of opening up a little, if not only for a short time. They are going to have to actually start realising lip-service laws and suggestions of foreign-friendly and non-discriminatory shops, will have to tone down the history denial and nationalism for a bit, and more.

The only things really going against it besides the unlimited potential for corruption, poor management, money scandals, delays, and other bureaucracy is the potential for major natural disasters, nuclear problems (as a result, and as currently existing), and the summer heat.

I can see it being very successful, but Japan REALLY needs to get the idiots with the reigns to clamp down on wasteful spending and skirting the laws.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I have also heard that part of the Olympic mandate is that the host city has to rein in the smoking. If so, this could be a positive lasting contribution to life here. Imagine, not having to find a nonsmoking restaurant or bar. If the current situation persists, there will be a lot of unhappy visitors.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

It'll be interesting as well to see how ceremonies of the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings and Japan's surrender play out, as those will occur during the Games. Will they play it up or play it down? The world is not going to stand for a nation demanding that the world recognise it as victim and pay tribute to the fallen, as some on the right might want, but at the same time they can't play it down at the national level and put the Games over commemoration of what happened on those days. So again, I'm curious.

I also forgot to mention I worry a little about the weather besides extreme heat; there are typhoons galore at present, and nuclear waste problems. These are the headlines from the "More in National" link:

MORE IN NATIONAL Hundreds of flights grounded as typhoon nears Tokyo area ( 4 ) Another typhoon feared to make landfall on Hokkaido ( 2 ) Kagoshima gov't to review evacuation plans for Sendai plant accident ( 2 ) M6.0 quake strikes off Iwate ( 4 ) Gov't to use state funds for cleanup of heavily contaminated Fukushima areas ( 20 )

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Rio Olympics had a rocky start, from Zika to raw sewage in the water to PED scandal.

But after all that, it didn't turn out all that bad.

A lot of people expected worse, but things tend to turn out not as bad.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

remember when Tokyo 2020 was supposed to force the government to focus on remedying Fukushima? only 4 years left and we still have over 200 tons of radioactive water leaking into the ocean daily, and the ice wall revealed to be a failure just a few days ago. Sure the water in Brazil was nasty, but radiation in the rain, food, and oceans is not an improvement. What's worse, there will be way to much focus on putting on a good face for the olympics, that Fukushima will be put on the backburner, when it should be the focus right now. We all knew this would happen.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

My word, there are a lot of pessimists here!

As a Japanophile I have every confidence that the authorities will manage the Olympics very well, and I know, from experience, how friendly the Japanese people are to tourists.

Yes, the heat is a concern, and I also agree about the worries over affordable accommodation, but all the doom and gloom over Fukushima, typhoons, earthquakes, etc really is over the top.

After Rio the bar is very low indeed, and Tokyo 2020 will undoubtedly be deemed a great success, just as London was.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If parasol hats are not sold, buy a baseball cap and bring water in containers. Tokyo is not as hot as Huston. Just avoid American male swim champs.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites