Japan Press Weekly

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2015 May 20 - 26 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

National stadium construction may not be finished by 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Japan’s sports minister Shimomura Hakubun said on May 20 that the construction of a new national athletic stadium would not be completed as originally planned. The stadium will be used as a main venue in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

This remark was made in a meeting with Tokyo Governor Masuzoe Yoichi in the metropolitan government office. Noting that the construction costs of the planned stadium are too much to cover with only national government funding, Shimomura requested the metropolitan government to share a part of the cost. The governor deferred making a reply.

Shimomura also expressed his intent to install a roof on the facility after the Olympics and reduce the number of seats from the original 80,000 to 65,000. He added that an additional 15,000 temporary seats will be available for the Summer Games.

In May 2014, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology gave a cost estimate of 162.5 billion yen to build the stadium, insisting that the construction costs will not exceed that amount. In the meeting with the governor, however, the minister stated that it is “quite impossible” to keep the expenditures within the estimate amount due to increases in labor costs and in the price of building materials.

Many architects and civic groups have repeatedly called on the state to drastically review the construction project, arguing that the planned stadium is too large and costly. The group of Japanese Communist Party members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has also demanded that the national government reflect residents’ opinions in the project as well as take full responsibility for improving infrastructure for the event.

The Olympic Agenda 2020, which was agreed upon at the IOC session in December last year, recommends that host countries focus on “sustainability” and increase “transparency” in organizing the Games.

The minister’s remark has revealed the overoptimistic forecast of government officials. The central government should immediately disclose all information regarding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.


Past related article:
> Tokyo Olympics might deprive local residents of opportunity to engage in sports [April 9, 2015]