The Guardian (March 23)
“Canada said it will not send athletes to Tokyo Olympics, New Zealand said it would consider boycotting Tokyo 2020 and Australia told its olympic athletes to prepare for the games to be held next year, in 2021 – all in the wake of Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, saying postponement could be an option.”
Tags: 2021, Abe, Athletes, Australia, Boycott, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Olympics, Tokyo 2020
Forbes (February 28)
Japan’s Q4 6.3% GDP “plunge is a harsh wakeup call,” but the “talk of the Olympics being scrapped” is actually “an opportunity to refocus on what really matter. If Abe had used the last several years doing heavy lifting on reform rather than betting it all on Olympic glory, Japan would have greater endurance. It’s time Tokyo got to work actually creating a brighter future. Not just staging one.”
New York Times (February 26)
“Japan can’t handle the coronavirus. Can it host the Olympics?” The nation’s leaders have a “sense of entitlement.” This “breeds indifference and incompetence,” which was on full display during “by the unmitigated epidemiological and public relations disaster that was the saga of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Diamond Princess, Disaster, Entitlement, Incompetence, Indifference, Japan, Leaders, Olympics
Reuters (February 18)
“The aversion to allowing work from home is unwelcome news for the government, which wants companies to let their employees telecommute during the Olympics to make travel easier for Games participants and spectators on Tokyo’s notoriously packed trains and roadways.”
Tags: Aversion, Companies, Employees, Government, Home, Olympics, Participants, Spectators, Telecommute, Tokyo, Work
Wall Street Journal (January 17)
“The 2020 Games, which officially open July 24, already may be the toughest Olympics ticket in decades, and possibly ever, ticket sellers say.” Any “Americans who want to watch them in person at the Olympics might already be out of luck.”
Tags: 2020 Games, Japan, Olympics, Out of luck, Tickets
The Independent (August 7)
“Soaring temperatures in Japan have killed at least 57 people since late July… highlighting the health threat to athletes and fans that Olympics organisers must tackle before next year’s Tokyo games.”
Tags: Athletes, Fans, Health threat, Japan, July, Killed, Olympics, Soaring, Temperatures, Tokyo
The Guardian (June 12)
“The problem with earthquakes is that they undermine the very things you do to prevent them. And with Tokyo now seeing millions of tourists a year, and expecting millions more for the Rugby World Cup this year and the Olympics in 2020, the city is ripe for panic in the event of a disaster.”
Tags: Disaster, Earthquakes, Olympics, Panic, Prevent, Problem, Rugby World Cup, Tokyo, Tourists, Undermine
Financial Times (February 12)
“One of the challenges faced by Tokyo as it prepares for the Olympics is living up to the last time it hosted the games, in 1964. The challenge is not practical (the games will in all likelihood run like clockwork) but thematic…. Today’s construction boom in central Tokyo… is being pitched as the renaissance of a city that has been straining for 30 years to pull off a second comeback.”
Tags: 1964, Challenges, Clockwork, Comeback, Construction boom, Olympics, Renaissance, Tokyo
Nikkei Asian Review (December 9)
“Overall, Japan’s preparations for 2020 are in chaos. But memories are short, and it is worth remembering that this is roughly the same thing that happened in the run-up to the previous Tokyo Olympic Games, held in 1964.” But history does not always repeat itself and “if the Olympic effort turns out to be as much of a travesty as the Toyosu venture, the second Tokyo Olympics will not turn out well.”
Institutional Investor (August 14)
“Virtual reality is making its Olympic debut during this summer’s Games, but for investors the technology may still be a few years away from prime time.”
Tags: Debut, Investors, Olympics, Prime time, Technology, Virtual reality
