Olympic Games: Olympia: The dark shadow of the Tokyo Summer Games

When Shino Haseo thinks about the big sporting event that is still called “Tokyo 2020” even though it took place in her hometown three years ago, she shrugs her shoulders: “Today it seems like an event that you have already forgotten. « The 40-year-old educator admits that she was once looking forward to the Olympics. But when the Summer Games finally began, the initial enthusiasm was long gone.

It wasn’t just the stressful corona pandemic, which caused the largest sporting event in the world to be postponed by a year to the summer of 2021. When the time finally came, the people of Japan had turned their backs on the Olympics for several reasons. “The Olympics only left a strong impression for the new sports like skateboarding and surfing,” Haseo thinks back. But that was probably because they had hardly been seen here before and Japan won medals in them. »But overall there were far too many scandals. There were no good memories left.”

What Haseo says can be heard frequently in Tokyo. The Summer Games were a shockingly unpopular event – and not just because of several corruption scandals. Amid the pandemic, surveys showed even before the games were held that two-thirds of the country were in favor of further postponement or cancellation of the games. The organizers went ahead with the Olympics anyway. In terms of sport, things went well – with many medals for Japan. Nevertheless, immediately after the end of the Games, and even a year later, around half of the country was of the opinion that there should not have been a Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021.

In the middle of the pandemic, people were encouraged to stay at home. No guests were allowed to arrive from abroad. But 10,000 athletes came to the country for the competitions. At least the host city of Tokyo managed to hold the games smoothly. Wouldn’t that be reason to be proud?

The blues musician Motockney Nuquee shakes his head: “Hardly anyone felt that way. It felt more like the organizers were simply asserting their rights. The Olympics should be a celebration of athletes and normal people. But it never became that. “People don’t even talk about it anymore these days.” But Tokyo’s Olympics were only a big party for a few people. Sponsors bribed organizers on a large scale. The first court rulings came in spring 2023: Some managers of Olympic partners, for example from the clothing manufacturer Aoki or the PR company ADK, have already received prison sentences.

The Tokyo Olympic organizers had spoken a little too full. Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had promised an economic boom for Japan. In addition, the games should come at no cost to taxpayers. And the sports party lasting several weeks would strengthen the exchange with the world. In the end, none of this happened: the economic boom, which was already very optimistically calculated, failed to materialize because of the pandemic. The story of games at no cost to the public quickly turned out to be an accounting trick. And international flair was hardly noticeable at the Olympics because of the empty stands. Another effect that Olympic hosts always hope for was weak: that young people would be motivated to do sport.

This is how Carola Hommerich, a sociology professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, assesses it. When asked whether her school-age children got anything out of the games, she replied: “The Olympics played no role for them at all.” It was no longer possible to go to the competitions with students. “I didn’t observe that children felt inspired and said: ‘I want to be like that too.’” The plans to bring school classes to the sports facilities were canceled due to the pandemic.

The government is now also timid when it comes to the legacy of the Olympics that is otherwise so often emphasized. There are hardly any. How big and dark the shadow of these Tokyo Games is was even evident at the end of 2023. Amid several corruption scandals surrounding “Tokyo 2020,” the northern Japanese city of Sapporo withdrew its application for the 2030 Winter Olympics. It was said that they didn’t want to organize a major event again against the public mood. The Tokyo Games should now serve as a warning example for future applications.

The tailor and soccer fan Itsuki Hozumi then thinks of something positive: “The Olympic Stadium is still being used.” The national soccer team now plays there and large concerts are also held there. “I’ve been there a few times now and I think it’s really a very nice stadium.” The stadium, whose structure was largely made of wood, is now a popular attraction for travelers from abroad. However, sports fans remember that the stands had to remain empty when the whole world was watching in the summer of 2021.