Japan Press Weekly

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2013 February 27 - March 5 [TOKYO]

Residents rally against Tokyo’s bid to host Olympics

Tokyoites conducted a rally in opposition to the metropolitan government’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games on March 4, when the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation team started its inspection tour of Tokyo.

The rally was hosted by an organizing committee consisting of sports, women’s, and lawyers’ groups as well as labor unions.

Participants confirmed that they will continue to lobby the IOC, the Japanese Olympic Committee, and the Tokyo Metropolitan government.

Metropolitan administration researcher Suenobu Atsushi warned of the risk of athletes and audience members suffering from heat stroke during the hot and humid summer of Tokyo.

Wajiki Akio of the New Japan Sports Federation explained that Tokyo cut its sports promotion budget by 65% in five years since 2000 under the former Governor Ishihara Shintaro and that Governor Inose Naoki basically follows his predecessor’s stance. Wajiki stressed that this goes against the Olympic Charter which states, “The practice of sport is a human right.”

An NPO representative reported that Tokyo’s plan to host the Olympics has many safety concerns, including building an athletes’ village outside of a seawall.

A member of the Wild Bird Society of Japan talked about the rich natural environment created in the Kasai Waterfront Park, a planned construction site for a facility for canoe slalom events. He warned that the plan will destroy the valuable environment both for Tokyo residents and wild birds.