Japan Press Weekly

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2014 May 21 - 27 [POLITICS]

Tokyo JCP calls for plan to demolish national stadium be cancelled

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblymembers’ Group of the Japanese Communist Party on May 22 made representations to the Tokyo governor, demanding the cancellation of a plan to demolish the existing national stadium in order to construct a huge sports arena for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The head of the 17-member group, Yoshida Nobuo, at a press conference held in the metropolitan government office released an opinion to that effect.

“To reconsider the plan based on the Olympic Charter is essential for a success of the 2020 Summer Games with the support and understanding of as many Tokyoites as possible,” said the group leader.

The national government at its Cabinet meeting agreed to promote the use of existing facilities in line with the IOC suggestion for making maximum utilization of existing buildings.

Yoshida argued that the scrap-and-build project goes directly against that policy.

The IOC sets a standard for the capacity of the main venue to be 60,000 persons. The current plan will demolish the 54,000-capacity national stadium and will construct a new one with an 80,000-capacity stand.

On top of that, the cost of building and repairing facilities, including Olympic villages, is expected to jump to 380 billion yen from the initially-projected cost of 153.8 billion yen Tokyo submitted to the IOC. Yoshida said, “With all the related projects, the total cost will be well over 400 billion yen.”

The construction of a new stadium will require the demolition of a nearby Tokyo-owned low-income housing complex, displacing the current residents.

The scrap-and-build method of improving Olympic venues has been meeting opposition from many citizens’ groups, environmental NGOs, and architects.

Past related articles:
> Lavish construction works for 2020 Tokyo Olympics arouse controversy [April 10, 2014]
> Tokyo should prepare for 2020 Olympics under slogan of ‘people first’ [January 6, 2014]