Tokyo struggles to recruit volunteer city guides for 2020 Olympics

Why is everything always done on a volunteer basis in Japan?

The main job of a "city volunteer" is to offer help to tourists at airports and stations.

Is the infrastructure that bad that they need volunteers to chaperone foreigners around? Foreigners seem to do OK now. Or... could it be that it will be used to create an image of Japan that differs from the everyday realities? Surely not.

So pay them.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the ¥1,000 train fare payment offered per day is not enough. People don’t want to work for free and very few can afford to.

It’s because most ordinary Japanese with decent English speaking capabilities still aren’t confident enough for the task. Gotta have more confidence. Too much low self esteem among Japanese people.

Time is money.

Why is everything always done on a volunteer basis in Japan?

To drum up local support. They do this for the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri as well.

All off the above.

Its unpaid

Most people have a job and can't (afford to) take time off to volunteer.

English skill is also an issue perhaps.

The organization should be extremely happy with at least 50000 volunteers they don't have to pay. pfff.

I thought that they promised to put up more and better English signage so this really shouldnt be an issue.

Maybe they should stop being so cheap, take some of the billions the construction companies and/or yaks and politicians are pocketing, and offer up more than a mere 1000 yen for transportation. Also, cities in Japan often require people to have official licenses to guide, for whatever purpose, and those licenses require obscene amounts of money to be spent on books and study and tests to get them if it involves receiving any money.

No pity for the JOC.

I'm ready to volunteer . . . provided my family and I can get to Tokyo in 2020. I'm a former WT&F gold.

I wonder how the volunteers will be treated when the Olympic stadium workers were treated this way. 

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/11/national/social-issues/tokyo-olympic-stadium-workers-suicide-recognized-related-overwork/