Tokyo 2020 Bid News

[Filipe_Golias]

Congratulations to Tokyo.

(You won with your best logo! )

[gotosy]

Japan ecstatic at Olympic decision

TOKYO —

Thousands of Japanese erupted in joy early Sunday as they learned Tokyo would host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Some had risen very early, while others had stayed up all night to hear the decision from Buenos Aires, which came at 5:20 a.m. local time.

Several broadcasters had live coverage of the event, with public broadcaster NHK having begun its programming at 10.30 p.m. on Saturday.

As Olympic chief Jacques Rogge read the IOC decision, cheers and shouts rang out, with groups of ecstatic Japanese hugging each other and punching the air.

TV hosts and their guests were temporarily speechless and several were in tears, with some making reference to people living in the area affected by the earthquake-tsunami and the nuclear emergency it caused in March 2011.

At the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where around 1,200 people had gathered to watch live-streaming of the announcement in Buenos Aires, people held V signs aloft and cheerleaders hugged each other. Some shouted “Banzai” (hurrah!).

At the MC’s prompting, the crowd in unison said “arigato” (thank you) to Buenos Aires.

At Komozawa Olympic Park in the south of Tokyo, which served as a venue for several sports at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, golden tinsel rained down at the moment of decision.

A boisterous crowd held signs and chanted “Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo,” as an interviewer fought to be heard above the din.

When he finally got his question out—“What do you think of the news?”—one man shouted: “It’s the best!” before they all resumed chanting and cheering.

In Buenos Aires, bid chief Tsunekazu Takeda said: “I have been waiting a long time for this feeling. The members of the IOC have seen that Tokyo is a safe pair of hands.”

At the Chamber of Commerce, the evening had kicked off with around 200 people, from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Tokyo Olympic bid committee, sponsors and sporting heroes watching live coverage of Tokyo’s final presentation to IOC members in Buenos Aires, half a day away.

The crowd enthusiastically applauded each speech and presentation made by Tokyo representatives including Princess Takamado, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese Olympic committee president and IOC member Takeda.

NHK’s all-night program including excerpts from presentations by the three cities, scenes from the vote venue and the three candidate cities, and interviews with Olympic medalists.

Private networks began similar live programs at around 3 a.m.

By 4 a.m., numbers in the hall had swelled to 1,200, and it was standing room only. Around 20 TV crews were there to witness the moment.

By the time the news came through, it was light in Tokyo and television coverage was showing no signs of ending.

© 2013 AFP

http://www.japantoday.com/category/sports/view/japan-ecstatic-at-olympic-decision

[gotosy]

Rio 2016 Congratulates Tokyo 2020

9/7/2013

“Rio 2016 Congratulates Tokyo on winning the honour of hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games today at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

As demonstrated in their outstanding presentation today, Tokyo is a vibrant city with a true passion for sport, and I am sure they will organise wonderful Games in 2020.

Tokyo will always hold a very special place in my heart, as it is the city in which I began my own Olympic journey, competing in the 1964 Games as a volleyball athlete.

My colleagues and I look forward to working closely together with our friends in Tokyo, to share our experience of preparing for and hosting the Games in 2016, just as London has done for us.

We know from our experience how much effort and dedication goes in to bidding for the Games and we applaud Madrid and Istanbul on their excellent campaigns.

Today marks three years to the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and we are working very hard to ensure that Rio delivers unique and memorable Games in 2016 for the world to enjoy”, said Rio 2016 President Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

[Guardian]

With this news, Japan is now in third place, by itself, in terms of how many Olympic Games it has hosted in the past, with four in total. Only France and the USA hosted more Olympic Games than Japan, with five and eight of them respectively.

[illustrado]

i'm happy for tokyo. i was rooting for istanbul but i still like the tokyo bid as it's much near to me. but they should fix the fukushima problem before anything else.

[Roger87]

WOHOO!! Congratulations Tokyo!

[Rockara]

i hate how poeple are complaining about japan's radiation problem, these olympics will occur in 2020, it's going to be resolved by then.

congrats to tokyo btw, they deserved it.

[Gangwon]

Congratulations Tokyo! You'll do a great job... really looking forward to your Games in 2020.

[Athan]

Congratulations, Tokyo!

Even though their bid hasn't managed to make me feel excited about it, I'm sure I'll enjoy these Games. I hope they'll show a completely different image than Beijing. I expect them to focus more on modernity and technology rather than on history and traditions.

[gotosy]

Photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows human letters on the premises of the Tokyo metropolitan government complex on Sept. 8, 2013, forming "THANK YOU" to express gratitude for support in the Japanese capital's bid to host the 2020 Olympics. Tokyo was selected as the host city beating Istanbul and Madrid. (Kyodo)

00:25 9 September 2013

FOCUS: Olympics: Lobbying all part of the plan for Tokyo's 2020 win

By Dave Hueston
BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 8, Kyodo

For Tokyo, forecasting the election results of the International Olympic Committee's general session was always part of the Game Plan to win the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the Japanese capital did that -- nearly down to the final vote.

Tokyo, having learned the lessons from its failed bid for the 2016 Games, used a strategic lobbying campaign focusing on an administration change being orchestrated by Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the influential Kuwaiti sheikh who has thrown his weight behind German IOC vice-president Thomas Bach to succeed IOC President Jacques Rogge in Tuesday's vote.

The sheikh, who is president of the Olympic Council of Asia and is widely known in IOC circles as the "Kingmaker," weaves an intricate web. "The election for the new IOC president and the host city are a complete set," a Tokyo bid consultant, who requested anonymity, told Kyodo News.

In the buildup to the vote, Tokyo bid chief Tsunekazu Takeda had said Tokyo expected to get around 40 of the IOC's votes in the first round of the secret ballot. A day before votes were cast, Tokyo forecasted 41 but figured it could nail down as many as 43; 42 of the 94 participants voted for Tokyo, just six shy of a majority that would have sealed its victory right out of the gate.

"We were right on the money," said Masato Mizuno, the Tokyo 2020 CEO and former chairman of global sports equipment manufacturer Mizuno Co. "We took what we learned from the previous run (for 2016), study it and made sure we used it to our advantage as we planned out a comprehensive schedule with our Team Japan."

The key: secure votes from the IOC members who voted for Tokyo's 2016 bid, and more importantly, get the sheik in its corner. The candidates the Kuwaiti sheik preferred in the two previous IOC elections, for the presidency of the SportAccord in St. Petersburg in May, and then in Lausanne, Switzerland, in June, to choose the 2018 Youth Games, won on both occasions.

Marius Vizer, the President of the International Judo Federation, became the new SportAccord president, and in Lausanne, Buenos Aires won the right to host the Youth Games, with a resounding victory over Medellin, despite the Colombian city being the odds-on favorite.

Rumors spread in August that the sheik had "sold out" strong rival Madrid for 2020, and the Japanese government was quick to dispatch former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on a lobbying campaign to Kuwait, while Takeda went on a lobbying mission himself through Europe.

According to a senior bid official, Princess Hisako, widow of Prince Takamado, Mori and Japanese government officials, met privately with athletics' world governing body IAAF president Lamine Diack, the Senegalese IOC member who has a heavy influence on the African vote, in a hotel room at the site of the IOC general session in Buenos Aires for discussions.

The election results are kept hidden until the IOC president's announcement of the host city later in the day, and for good reason: Madrid, which was making its third consecutive bid, and Istanbul with 26 votes apiece for a tie in the first vote, could predictably be counted on to bow out of the competition, one way or the other.

After Madrid was eliminated by Istanbul, 49-45, in the tiebreaker, Tokyo gobbled up 18 more votes for a 60-36 landslide (one abstention) in the decisive round -- well over the 49 needed for a majority.

For 2016, Tokyo picked up just 22 votes in the first round and was eliminated in the second round with only 20. According to one Tokyo government official, not being able to secure the Asian vote was the death knell, and Tokyo was limited to just five European votes.

This time, Tokyo worked hand and hand with the Prime Minister's Office in the sharing of information and created a team of vote analysts. Being able to count on the Kuwaiti sheik, who is the new head of the Association of National Olympic Committees, led to a favorable outcome.

"Getting more than 15 votes from Northern Europe and France, with Paris planning to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, was huge for us," said a senior Tokyo bid committee member.

In the final analysis, even fears over radiation-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, crippled by the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster, were of little consequence.

IOC members were clearly more concerned with Spain's nagging economic recession and the risks reflected in its jobless rate which is over 25 percent. Gambling on Sochi for its first Winter Games in 2014 with a price tag of more than $50 billion for construction has caused IOC members to take pause, and problems with delays for Rio's Games just three years away have been a constant headache.

Defining Tokyo's bid this time was as problematic as it was for 2016, but in the end IOC members chose reliability over risks. Istanbul, which was making its fifth overall bid, was marred by doping problems as well as a civil war in neighboring Syria.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe probably allayed fears of the nuclear crisis with a spot-on answer after his speech in Tokyo's final presentation, but it was likely the behind-the-scenes work of Tokyo's lobbying outfit that paid off in spades.

==Kyodo

[Frenchy]

"Getting more than 15 votes from Northern Europe and France, with Paris planning to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, was huge for us," said a senior Tokyo bid committee member.

Mm.

So Paris wants to bid for 2024?

That's a new for me.

Nothing on the grapevine here.

BTW félicitations to Tokyo.

Nice to see they managed to get the games without having to rely on an organised smear campaign......

[jiejie]

I hope they'll show a completely different image than Beijing. I expect them to focus more on modernity and technology rather than on history and traditions.

Oh it will be completely different. The Japanese and the Chinese have little in common in mindset, perspective, and thinking processes. Nothing against the great cities of Madrid and Istanbul, but I'm delighted that Tokyo won this bid.

[gotosy]

8 Sep. 2013 - Tokyo 2020 has received the honour to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games!

Thank you very much for your support for the Tokyo 2020 Bid throughout the campaign.

We are confident that 2020 will be a memorable and exciting year for Japan, and also that the Tokyo 2020 will inspire children worldwide.

Japan is united as one, and let’s continue to work hard together to ensure the best possible 2020 Games.

Thank you very much all for your support once again.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee

[baron-pierreIV]

Just give the world DAMNED good ceremonies and all is forgiven!!

[gotosy]

China declines to congratulate Japan on winning bid

(Reuters) - China declined to congratulate Japan on Monday on its successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, underscoring how the supposedly non-political event has been colored by strained relations between the two sides.

Ties between the world's second- and third-largest economies have been shadowed for years by what Beijing says has been Tokyo's refusal to properly atone for wartime atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in China between 1931 and 1945.

More recently, relations have been troubled by a sovereignty row over tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

"We have noted the decision by the International Olympic Committee," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

Asked specifically whether China had offered congratulations, Hong said such a question should be directed to the Chinese Olympic Committee.

The Chinese Olympic Committee, reached by telephone, said it was unable to offer an immediate comment.

Hong said that China valued its relations with Japan, but it was up to Japan to stop its provocations over the disputed islands and correctly face its wartime past.

"We have said many times that we pay great attention to relations with Japan," he said. "At the same time we ask Japan to earnestly face up to history and facts."

China hosted a highly successful summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, and Hong said this was an experience China could share with Japan, as he stuck a slightly more conciliatory note.

"China and Japan are important members of the International Olympic Committee community. We are willing to share the experience of hosting the Olympics with Japan," he added.

Reuters

[yoshi]

Will China boycott Tokyo's Games? And might Japan refer to "Taiwan" if they do?

[Lord David]

China won't boycott a Tokyo Olympics. That would just kill any future Olympic bid (Summer or Winter) from any Chinese city.

China participated in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. As well as Seoul 86 and their 1988 Olympics, and China doesn't exactly have nice relations with South Korea.

This is just another matter of China not giving credit where it's due, like when they claimed to be the first Asian frontier hosts with Beijing, despite Tokyo having hosted in 1964 and Seoul in 1988.

[runningrings]

China claimed Beijing 2008 was the first Asian Olympics? Really?

[baron-pierreIV]

China declines to congratulate Japan on winning bid

(Reuters) - China declined to congratulate Japan on Monday on its successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, underscoring how the supposedly non-political event has been colored by strained relations between the two sides.

Ties between the world's second- and third-largest economies have been shadowed for years by what Beijing says has been Tokyo's refusal to properly atone for wartime atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in China between 1931 and 1945.

More recently, relations have been troubled by a sovereignty row over tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

"We have noted the decision by the International Olympic Committee," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

Asked specifically whether China had offered congratulations, Hong said such a question should be directed to the Chinese Olympic Committee.

The Chinese Olympic Committee, reached by telephone, said it was unable to offer an immediate comment.

Hong said that China valued its relations with Japan, but it was up to Japan to stop its provocations over the disputed islands and correctly face its wartime past.

"We have said many times that we pay great attention to relations with Japan," he said. "At the same time we ask Japan to earnestly face up to history and facts."

China hosted a highly successful summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, and Hong said this was an experience China could share with Japan, as he stuck a slightly more conciliatory note.

"China and Japan are important members of the International Olympic Committee community. We are willing to share the experience of hosting the Olympics with Japan," he added.

Reuters

Never trusted those Chinese. Real, cold war numbskulls!!

[Ikarus360]

^^ Dunno if considering this news. We all know China has hated Japan since the origin of time and I bet my horses they voted for either Istambul or Madrid on the bid process.

Japan did atrocities, yes, but they already judged their criminals and moved on. It's China and Korea who still keep acting like spoiled brats and refuse to get over with. You don't see Poland hating Germany for Warsaw.

Also China has no room to talk when it comes to atrocities *stares at Tibet and Tienanmen*

[Gangwon]

You don't see the Japanese head of state going down on his knees like Willy Brandt did either.

The truth is far more complex than i have time to get into now, but bottom line is truth lies somewhere in the middle. For example, unlike Germany, Japan had never shown genuine remorse, and historical revisionism in Japanese schools exist to this day.

[Ikarus360]

Still, they gave up their militaristic politics and jugded most of the war criminals, specially the PM Hideki Tojo who was pretty much the mastermind behind all the atrocities made by Japan during this period.

Although it's true that Japan signs of remorse aren't as genuine as Germany, they already moved on, so the rest of the world should as well. It's silly that they keep fighting for something that ended more than half a century ago. Just saying.

[FYI]

What I find most interesting about all this, is all the pre-vote talk that Japan wasn't really "well liked" by its neighbors, & that they would be working vigorously to derail Tokyo's bid was all just bombastic rhetoric, since they want on to win by a landslide in the final. And they also had a very good lead in the first round. Six more votes there & it would've been theirs right there & then.

The same was said about the South Koreans, & that one was also just exaggerated talk. Not to mention all "North American & Latino bloc" notions for Madrid. It looks like the only continental strategy that could've played a role here, was the idea of trying to clear the way for Europe for 2024.

[baron-pierreIV]

. It looks like the only continental strategy that could've played a role here, was the idea of trying to clear the way for Europe for 2024.

I doubt it was even that. They just wanted to give it to the safest, most solvent bid of the 3. 2022, 2024, etc. will take care of themselves.

[FYI]

That's why I said "could've'". It's quite clear that judging by the vote, the IOC was looking for reliability & dependability in this particular race.