"Many of our venues are in place; most of the Games infrastructure is in place; the $4.5 billion (£2.8 billion/€3.4 billion) dollars budget to complete these tasks is already in the bank.

"This means we can focus our energies on 'the extras' that will ensure the best Games experience possible for athletes, Olympic and Paralympic families, and spectators alike.

"Tokyo will create a legacy for the city, the country and global sport."

British bookmakers William Hill has installed Tokyo as the odds-on favourites, ahead of rivals Istanbul and Madrid, to be awarded the Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its Session in Buenos Aires on September 7. 

Tokyo 2020 President Tsunekazu Takeda, Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose, Paralympian Wakako Tsuchida, Olympic wrestling champion Saori Yoshida, Sports Minister Hakubun Shimomura and  1976 volleyball gold medallist Yuko Arakida helped reveal details of the bid

Tokyo will provide guaranteed quality and maximum benefits, Japanese officials promised as they unveiled the first of their three pillars, Delivery, which they claimed they could guarantee because of the country's financial strength, infrastructure and relative safety.

This, in turn, would help it concentrate on Celebration, the second of its pillars, to inspire the world's youth and involve the city's population of 35 million.

The third of its key pillars, Innovation, would see the city harness its reputation as one of the most technologically advanced in the world to help make the Games a success, which it is proposed is held between July 24 and August 9, with the Paralympics following between August 25 and September 6.

"The Games plan Tokyo proposes encompasses all of Tokyo's assets as one of the world's most forward-thinking cities," said Naoki Inose, the city's new Governor and chairman of Tokyo 2020.

"More than anything, the city of Tokyo will be in the centre of all activities to ensure a successful Games."

The budget for staging the Games will be 300 billion yen (£2.1 billion/$3.4 billion/€2.6 billion).

Inose is confident that Tokyo's failed bid for 2016, when it lost to Rio de Janeiro, has provided valuable lessons for this campaign.

"Looking back on it now, there was no way we were going to win the bid on our first try," he said.

"But we do have a shot now because we have the experience and wisdom from our first bid.

"Tokyo put in a lot of work last time, but the country was going through a change in leadership at the time.

"The Government, all the public offices, they were scrambling not knowing who was going to be in charge tomorrow.

"The previous governor gave it everything he had but we never had the all-for-one, one-for-all mentality we needed.

"The bureaucrats at the Foreign Ministry, Education Ministry, we will expect them to graft at it this time.

"The circumstances are totally different now."

Kasumigaoka National Stadium hosted the 1964 Olympics but will look very different if Tokyo is chosen to stage the 2020 edition

Tokyo also tried to emphasise the legacy aspect of its bid by officially confirming that the centrepiece of the Games would be Kasumigaoka National Stadium, used the last time it hosted the Olympics in 1964 and which is soon to be redeveloped after Zaha Hadid won an international design competition.

"It will be an all-weather facility with a retractable roof," said Hakubun Shimomura, Japan's newly appointed Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

"In addition, the stadium will exemplify Japan's propensity for high technology with cutting-edge audio equipment, and movable seats depending on the competition or performance."

The Kasumigaoka National Stadium will be one of several venues from the 1964 Games incorporated into the new plans, including Nippon Budokan, the birthplace of judo set to host the competition again in 2020.

Under the plans published today, 85 per cent of the Tokyo venues and all Olympic family accommodation will be within eight kilometres of the Olympic Village, it is promised. 

The heart of the Games is set to be the Tokyo Bay Zone, which is on the waterfront and is earmarked for regeneration.

That will see 11 permanent venues built, including the Aquatics Centre and Ariake Arena, where volleyball will be played.  

A new Aquatics Centre will be built in the Tokyo Bay Zone if the Japanese capital hosts the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics

There are also plans for an International Exchange Plaza (IEP), part of the new Olympic Village development, devoted to sport in legacy.

It will house national and global cultural, education and sporting institutions, ensuring the legacy of Tokyo 2020 will be a hub for international exchange research, events and cooperative projects.

"The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Bid enjoys unanimous cross party support," said Shimomura. 

"Newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first direct order to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology was to realise our goal of hosting the 2020 Games, and continue in our aspiration to further promote Japan as a sports nation."

You can read the full candidature file by clicking these links.

Volume 1(15.17 MB)
Volume 2(31.19 MB)
Volume 3(40.27 MB)

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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