Once-reluctant Japanese get behind Tokyo's Olympic bid

Ambrosia, that was a great explanation but Im sorry to say that you wasted your time. I already tried many times but he keeps repeating the same again and again.

There are many reasons to support or dismiss each of the three cities as stated in this page but having the cutest banners with Nintendo alphabet dont think is one of them...

I will be happy anyway, one is the city I live in, other is the city I used to live and the third one I have many friends I can visit...so good luck to all and in one week we will have the answer!

All readers back on topic please.

toshiko: Many organizations, and countries always declare "We support International Olympic Events:. But they do not donate money to the city that hold the Olympic.

If a city hosts the Olympics we wouldn't exactly say that they "donate" money to hold the games. The host city pays for the building and improvement of venues and living quarters for the athletes. I'm unaware of a host city that declared they would support the games and then didn't. Could you give some specific examples?

Sony, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Bridgestone, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, NEC, Nintendo, etc already budgeted Advertisement costs in case Tokyo is selected.

Do you seriously think the same is not true of companies and organizations in Turkey and Spain? Companies in those countries would likely jump at the chance to pay for advertising in order to elevate the visibility of their products. Additionally, companies from around the world would also pay for advertising in order to popularize their products in whatever city hosts the Olympics. That's generally the way it works and isn't particular to Japan.

with alphabet of NINTENDO.

I don't understand what the alphabet of NINTENDO is.

During any game Japanese play, Japanese announcers yell " Ganbare Nippon!"

What's that got to do with why Japan should get the Olympics? During any game anywhere, local fans usually support their team by shouting.

However, they don;t have banners in Spanish or Arabic language.

First, it's neither too hard nor too expensive to make banners. Second, what's Arabic got to do with anything? Turkish is the official language of Turkey and is a member of the Oghuz group of languages, a subgroup of the Turkic language family. Arabic belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family.

They just use the same banners they use in the MLB games in USA. the one hang on the walls behind of catchers. left and right.

So, Japan should get the Olympics because they're going to recycle banners from MLB games? That's one of the more interesting reasons I've heard so far.

@ambrosia: Many organizations, and countries always declare "We support International Olympic Events:. But they do not donate money to the city that hold the Olympic. Sony, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Bridgestone, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, NEC, Nintendo, etc already budgeted Advertisement costs in case Tokyo is selected. If not selected, they just don;t dump advertisement cost to Istanbul or Madrid. Just keep in their corporation funds. They already have banners that will be displayed during the game. I thiught Nintendo may use manga characters but no, it has katakana of Nintendo and kanjis of Nin Ten do. with alphabet of NINTENDO. encircled by oval line. During any game Japanese play, Japanese announcers yell " Ganbare Nippon!" Japanese companies have budget of commercials, both in Japanese and English. However, they don;t have banners in Spanish or Arabic language. They just use the same banners they use in the MLB games in USA. the one hang on the walls behind of catchers. left and right.

toshiko: "We support Olympic" comments do not equate ad budgets Sony, etc have for Tolyo Olympic . The back banners on Olympic fiields in Tokyo that has Kanji or katakan and English.

What does that mean? Could you explain it more clearly, please?

"We support Olympic" comments do not equate ad budgets Sony, etc have for Tolyo Olympic . The back banners on Olympic fiields in Tokyo that has Kanji or katakan and English.

Toshiko...once more you appear at the Olympic news with your unrealistic an not logical points... I will try to explain it to you again...The olympics is a GLOBAL event so companies like SONY will sponsor the games anywhere in the world...sponsoring wont be a problem for ANY of the 3 candidate cities...

Well, it might be expensive to some cities like Istanbul or Madrid to prepare for Olympic, but not Tokyo. Profit will be big in Tokyo with huge ad income from Japan Inc. Are there any Turkish or Spanish industries that spend money like Japan Inc. ?

56 years is a long time between Olympics. I think Japan will rise to the occasion if they do win the Games.

@ Cricky

It will benefit the country to have the worlds media focussed on Japan, asking questions, investigating topics. Questioning the MAN. Hundreds of proper journalists asking off topic questions, I relish the Idea.

I agree. It may even be the best way to get more foreign involvement into the crisis. I just hope they haven't left it too late to put right! I have a feeling Japan already has the Olympic bid sewn up. Otherwise I can't see why they are allowing all this negative stuff out about the leaks before the bid is announced.

@smithinjapan. Agree. The Olympics are a colossal waste of money! And each new venue will try to outdo the last with its opening ceremonies etc. Is isn't worth it! Some benefits may have been felt in London, but the rest of the country was largely ignored. It's all just show! The profit bit is just a lie, unless you happen to be selling merchandise just outside the stadia.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092077/London-2012-Olympics-cost-spiral-24bn--10-TIMES-higher-2005-estimate.html

Ask the same people how much it'll take from their pockets and watch their faces change.

Istanbul 2020. It does not matter to me who wins. But I have a hunch that Istanbul will win the bid.

Tokyo knows better than most how an Olympic Games can rebrand a city

Therefore it should also know that it is not only time to let another city "rebrand" itself (for whatever that means) but time also to get to work on much more urgent "domestic affairs" : Fukushima clean-up, relocating displaced Tohoku citizens, building them houses and generally taking care of "home affairs". Unfortunately, the "dollar signs" before their eyes are literally blinding them...

I do NOT want Olympics in Tokyo. And everyone is cooperating. China is helping give the impression that war may break out at any minute. S. Korean groups have mounted a campaign to remember Japans WWII sins. Japan is helping make Fukushima look scarry. Too many people. Too costly.

i truely hope that tokyo wins the olympic bid for 2020, but hope even more that no nuclear energy be used anymore in japan, and in the world.

Brainiac: I notice the usual Japan-haters are out in force on this thread.

So, you're a Japan hater if you don't want Tokyo to get the Olympics? Does that mean the 26% of those polled who don't want them are also Japan haters or do you suppose that 26% are all foreigners who live here and hate it? Are the 74% who do want it Turkey and Spain haters?

Why can't people not want the Olympics in Tokyo for perfectly logical reasons that have nothing to do with hating Japan, such as:

1) The games are expensive and often not profitable. 2) In addition to having hosted the World Cup not too long ago, Tokyo has already hosted the Olympics once and Japan has hosted the Olympics at least 3 times, quite a lot for a small country 3) In the recent past they've been in Asia or Australasia a fair number of time; Seoul, Beijing and Sydney and will be in Sochi this winter. 4) Japan and Spain have both hosted the games but Turkey has never had them. 5) Japan's ongoing nuclear problems don't bode well for confidence regarding health security.

Tokyo is a candidate of Olympic. Fukushima is not in Tokyo. Tokyo can afford. All sort of Japan Inc. are lining up to spend huge ad money. Sorry to Madrid and Istanbul, Japan Inc. are just interested to spend ad money in Tokyo and Japan, not in your country. After all, all of Japan Inc. have their headquarters in Tokyo, Again, Fukushima is not in Tokyo,

Hopefully they will have fixed Fukushima by then.

Sadly, I think it will be more like 2120 when it will be 'fixed'.

Not a Tokyo hater but I think it should go to Istanbul, great city that incorporates east and west plus many historical sites.

Either way the Olympics are still 7yrs away and much can happen in that time. Posted from Tokyo.

only 2 or 3 Olypic cities have made a profit fro hosting a games, most making large losses even with the added future tourism. Tokyo will no doubt make a huge loss but hey if it makes the people happy in the short term let do it right?

I certainly hope Tokyo gets the Games. I was in Sydney in 2000 and it is a fantastic experience for any city.

I notice the usual Japan-haters are out in force on this thread.

Tokyo. gogogo! Go for it.

I saw the last one in Tokyo not too long time ago but time flies, indeed. I lived near rote 20 that was used for marathon, I was seeing them so closely. That was a first time I saw so many non Japanese people in my lifetime. It would wonderful if I can see it one more time while I am alive.... 2020? I think it is 50/50 chance for me.

Jimizo: No thanks, I hope Spain gets the Olympics, Tokyo does not deserve it.

Hopefully they will have fixed Fukushima by then.

@Neko & gogogo Fukushima - don't drop the dreaded F-bomb when the Olympics are being discussed. Talk about Spain's parlous economy or Turkey's unrest. Fukushima? What a downer. Let's think about the joys of synchronized swimming and how a few may profit from this instead.

It will benefit the country to have the worlds media focussed on Japan, asking questions, investigating topics. Questioning the MAN. Hundreds of proper journalists asking off topic questions, I relish the Idea.

If Tokyo loses it, I bet they waste even MORE money on another bid.

They talk so much about the country making progress and the economic benefits, but Japan is already an advanced country.

Could have fooled me!

No thanks, fix Fukushima before 2020 please

I have a feeling that Spain is going to win this. But, please Japanese government, don't put money into anything before you fix the embarrassment that is Fukushima. I feel so bad for all those people still in temporary housing.

olympics in japan? makes me think two things:

radiation, irresponsibility toward said radiation and toward the international status and effects of said radiation,

and the j women's judo team

It is Abenomics that changed the reluctance of the Japanese people. Actually, it was Ishihara who was most earnest but people were reluctant at that time in the stagnant economy. Ishihara now may be very much regretting that he quit the Tokyo governor.

As recently as mid-2012, only 47% were in favor of Tokyo hosting the 2020 games, the bid committee says.

According to a late August poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, though, 74% said they supported the games.

Not surprising given that there are virtually no voices in the media who are against the idea. En masse they've promoted Tokyo's candidacy as a right and popular idea, and in Japan once something is said to be popular there's no stopping it.

The main selling point domestically has been, "Let's watch Japanese athletes win lots of medals here in Japan!" The economic side is not really part of the national conversation, nor are the international aspects of the games.

Hoodwinked again.

One last hurrah to world relevance before Japan falls into it's self-induced mediocrity.

With the horrendous situation in Fukushima, just 200 kilometres away from Tokyo, how can they even think about it?

They still don't have a clue what's going on.

It's nowhere near fixed and almost every day there is some kind of bad news about the place.

Fix Fukushima first, then think about the Olympics.

“Even just campaigning for the Olympics means you have to use a lot of money,” said civil servant Shuji Nakajima, 27. “If it succeeds that’s fine, but if it doesn’t, the money’s gone.”

it is fair to assume that Japan's Public Debt will reach Y1500 trillion by 2020, how much can Tokyo earn by hosting Olympics? very little.