Tokyo 2020: Japan’s ‘recovery Games’ of little benefit to local residents

TV sponsors, construction firms, the IOC and politicians are all poised to gain from holding the Games, but it is hard to see any positives for the people of Tokyo
Recent polls showing opposition to the Olympics waning is more likely to be down to a sense of resignation rather than excitement or support for the government

Will Fee

Published: 9:15am, 20 Jul 2021

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When Tokyo’s successful Olympic bid was announced in 2013, there was widespread domestic fanfare. A viewing party in one Tokyo city park attracted 2,000 excited revellers who celebrated the victory with live music and a fun run. The Games were billed as the “recovery Olympics”, a tonic in the aftermath of the triple disasters of 2011.

At that time, domestic commentators questioned whether the Games should go ahead in a country still affected by nuclear anxiety. Large swathes of Fukushima prefecture in the country’s northeast remained no-go areas. Investment in the Games would be better directed towards rebuilding shattered communities, it was argued.

Particularly within business and political circles, however, the Games were heralded as an unmissable opportunity. Preparation for the event would, it was felt, divert attention away from the disaster. A successful Olympics would showcase Japan’s resilience and signal a return to international prominence following two decades of economic stagnation.

The Tokyo bid won out over Istanbul and Madrid amid belief within the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Japan, despite the disaster, was a safe pair of hands boasting more-than-adequate infrastructure to host the Games. Now, eight years on and a year later than planned, the misleadingly named 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin in earnest this week.

IOC President Thomas Bach has heralded Tokyo as the “best-ever prepared” host city. While there is little doubt Tokyo is well equipped to deliver an Olympic-sized event, despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision to go ahead with the Games clearly comes at a cost to local residents.

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Tokyo has entered its fourth state of emergency and the mood is understandably muted. There is only a mild sense of trepidation, more of the “wait and see” attitude that has characterised much of the past 18 months.

At the time of writing, new daily Covid-19 cases in Tokyo had hit a six-month high of 1,308. Locals and health officials alike are understandably concerned that the arrival of overseas Olympic participants, officials and media will place unnecessary strain on an already stretched health care system.

The state of emergency declaration was a precautionary measure to slow what now seems to be a fifth wave of infections. A walk around Shibuya is enough to see the economic damage these restrictions are having on local businesses, many of which were counting on revenue from an influx of overseas visitors.

Along Meiji-dori, the main avenue running through the area, closed businesses and vacant storefronts are a noticeable addition to the local landscape. Bars and restaurants – compelled, though not forced, to close at 8pm each evening – are prohibited from serving alcohol. Young people have taken to drinking outside convenience stores and in car parks.

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Against this backdrop, the public has expressed opposition to holding the Games. Polling in May suggested around 60 per cent of the public favoured either cancelling the Games outright or postponing them for another year. The same month, a petition calling for cancellation garnered 350,000 signatures in just nine days.

More recent polls suggest opposition has declined to around 50 per cent. Perhaps the drop represents a growing excitement for the Olympics among the public or a show of confidence in the Suga administration’s promise to deliver a “safe and secure” Games.

More likely, however, it shows the public is resigned to the fact the Games will go ahead with or without its support. There is too much riding on the successful completion of the Games for cancellation ever to have been a realistic option.

Some estimates place Olympics-related costs at US$25 billion. The IOC will receive a reported US$1 billion in TV revenue alone. Despite the myriad issues the Games have faced, at least from a broadcasting perspective, they will still be the most profitable Olympics to date.

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Yet, with spectators banned from attending the events, who beyond television sponsors and construction firms benefit from these Games?

Certainly, they benefit the athletes, some of whom will only have one chance of becoming an Olympian. They also benefit overseas television audiences who have waited five years to watch this latest iteration of the Games.

For the people of Tokyo, however, there is little to be gained from hosting the Games. After a painfully slow vaccine roll-out, only about 32 per cent of Japan’s population have received at least one shot. For the once-optimistic hosts, the Olympics are now a potential superspreader event.

Of course, the Games could still proceed without a hitch. If so, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will call a snap general election in September. His chances of re-election will receive a significant boost from a successful Olympics, particularly if Japan’s athletes do their bit to lift the nation’s spirits by returning a healthy medal haul.

Previous host cities have benefited from the Olympics as an opportunity to show their best side. The 1964 Tokyo Games were billed as the “science fiction Olympics”. They were a chance to definitively throw off the shackles of Japan’s past and forge ahead with an exciting future shaped by the bullet train and technological innovation.

The 2020 iteration of the Tokyo Olympics could still be the “recovery Games” in several different ways. They could live up to the name by reviving the unpopular Suga’s fortunes or as a continuation of the nation’s post-disaster recovery and economic resurgence. They could even offer a global signpost for a post-pandemic return to normality.

What is hard to overlook in Tokyo, however, is that the pandemic is clearly not over. We can only hope that what should have been enthusiastically greeted as the “recovery Games” does not instead go down in history as the “Covid Olympics”.

Will Fee is a journalist based in Tokyo. He holds an MPhil in Japanese Studies from Oxford University with a specialism in post-war history and culture