Tokyo Preparing for 2020 Olympic Games

By ELIZABETH GIBSON for The J-Pop Exchange

For the second time ever, the 2020 Summer Olympics will be hosted in Tokyo, Japan. The first time the Japanese capital hosted the Games was in 1964.

Tokyo was officially selected for the 2020 Games back in 2013 — almost a decade before the event will even take place. This is because of all of planning that needs to occur, like building a stadium, preparing venues, and expanding travel options for local and international visitors. The Tokyo Games will run from July 24 to August 9, 2020.

The Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, which will host badminton and fencing, was the first venue to be completed back in 2017. It will also host the 2020 Paralympics and is powered by solar energy.

Hosting and preparing for the Olympic Games hasn’t been without its problems, though. The main issue has been the budget, which rapidly spiralled out of control and forced a red-faced Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to tear up the blueprints for the original Olympic stadium. The original blueprints would have made for the world’s most expensive stadium. In December, Tokyo 2020 organizers announced a $1.4 billion (¥150 billion) cut to the budget, bringing the overall bill down to ¥1.35 trillion ($12.6 billion).

Americans who wish to attend the 2020 Tokyo Games must either purchase tickets through a travel agent, or purchase tickets themselves online during the sale period. It is not yet known when the tickets will go on sale.

Tickets for the opening ceremony come with a hefty price tag. They will range from ¥25,000 to ¥150,000 (about $220 to $1330). Average ticket prices for events will be around ¥7000 (about $60) and a significant percentage of tickets will cost less than ¥5000 (about $44).

The 2020 Games will introduce a multitude of new events: skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate, as well as even more mixed events and the return of baseball and softball. More than 11,000 athletes and 206 nations are expected to participate.

“Futuristic” is an unofficial theme of the venues and events for 2020, as organizers have promised that these Games will be the most futuristic yet. Nations often like to show off their newest technologies at the Olympics. But Tokyo, being one of the most sophisticated cities in the world, is preparing a village of robots, self-driving taxis, and hydrogen-powered buses, among many more exciting technological features .

Even though they were off to a bumpy start, the Tokyo Games are sure to be wildly impressive.

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SOURCES
1. Tokyo 2020: https://tokyo2020.org/en/
2. The Japan Times — Preparations for 2020 Tokyo Olympics said to be back on track after rocky start: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/06/national/preparations-2020-tokyo-olympics-said-back-track-rocky-start/#.WzEAGOgvzrc
3. Truly Tokyo — How To Buy Tokyo Olympic Tickets: https://trulytokyo.com/how-to-buy-tokyo-olympic-tickets/
4. NBC News — Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics: Everything you need to know: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tokyo-2020-summer-olympics-everything-you-need-know-n849301
5. Gizmodo — 8 Reasons Why the Tokyo Olympics Will Be the Most Futuristic We've Ever Seen: https://gizmodo.com/8-reasons-why-the-tokyo-olympics-will-be-the-most-futur-1728007440

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