Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara

Ishihara blames Tokyo 2016 failure on behind-the-scenes deals

Sunday 04th October, 01:59 PM JST

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fishy at 10:36 AM JST - 5th October

Ishihara said it was Japan's dream, but did he know, that it was HIS dream and most of the people in Tokyo didn't even want it?????? Now he's made people in Tokyo (Japan) mad by spending such a large amount of money and not only he couldn't accomplish anything but also making the whole country embarrased for blaming the Tokyo's failure on something else? Time for him to retire.
sf2k at 11:35 AM JST - 5th October

winners don't brag and losers don't complain. Oh, wait this is Ishihara. nvm..
stealth_one at 12:06 PM JST - 5th October

I agree bgaudry that shima would be the best bet for Japan and maybe then a sitting prez could show up under the guise of the Games.
michaelqtodd at 12:17 PM JST - 5th October

The Japan that cant think. This really is an example,hopefully the last of incredible lack of planning and insight into the ways of the world outside Japan.Imagine a campaign based on Tokyos multi cultural diversity led by Portugese, Sri Lankan and Brazilian (eg) citizens of Japan. Must surely have had a better chance. Agree that the rascists old fool has cooked Japans chances of getting the Games for several years.These IOC dudes (and their sons who inevetably inherit their positions) will not forget Ishihara`s ridiculous criticisms for a while
smithinjapan at 02:53 PM JST - 5th October

bgaudry: "If Japan wants the Olympics, there is a sure fire way to get them. Not Fukuoka, Osaka or Tokyo, put Hiroshima forward."

Hmmm... tempting... but Fukuoka has slightly better facilities as the main hub of Kyushu (aside from Nagasaki, but that's largely military), and with it's air and ship ports. They aren't that far off, so it should be easy enough for the athletes to visit Hiroshima, and who knows? maybe if a venue needs to be distant from the main venues they could do something in Hiroshima. Another problem with doing the Olympics in Hiroshima is construction; to my knowledge it's quite hard to build in Hiroshima because of all the landmarks and what not.
sf2k at 03:04 PM JST - 5th October

This will continue to get worse for Japan. As time goes onward every other nation will have increasingly mixed race citizens in their presentations, but Japan will not...ever. The appeal of going to Japan is approaching that of a museum, not an Olympics.
chinpira at 03:22 PM JST - 5th October

Ah all the comments were a nice read.

About re-election, I remember reading somewhere that he has no intention of running for another term after his current term ends in 2011. So hopefully he'll either resign before this or worst case he'll be phased out along with analogue broadcasting in 2011. Either way its good that he'll just be remembered for his failings as governor. Even with the Olympics in Rio it won't make much difference to the viewers watching it from home in Japan... Japanese media like to zoom in and stay focused on the Japanese athletes exclusively so its easy to forget that its an international event anyway. It might even be worth creating a Japan Olympics with only home grown competitors taking part, more gold medals will be won this way and no complaints from all the foreign fearing locals.

Congratulations Rio!
sf2k at 03:52 PM JST - 5th October

lol...

I hate it when the host country only shows its own athletes. Not very sportsman like. I remember watching a baseball game late at night and thinking that was great, until they ended the broadcast in the 7th inning in a close game!? Turns out they were only broadcasting the Japanese pitcher, not the game! Ridiculous. This is not in the spirit of sport.

Japanese media has done very well lately (ie: Golf too) in embarrassing itself in showing that the rest of the world does not matter. There was more than just Ishihara responsible here for failure.
IvanCoughalot at 10:19 PM JST - 5th October

does anyone have a link for the gymnast girl's disastrous speech?+I've heard a lot about it - none of it good - and I'd like to make my own mind up.
spudman at 10:39 PM JST - 5th October

does anyone have a link for the gymnast girl's disastrous speech?+I've heard a lot about it - none of it good - and I'd like to make my own mind up.

Yeah there is a link in google if you spend about two minutes looking for it.
blvtzpk at 11:03 PM JST - 5th October

Yeah there is a link in google if you spend about two minutes looking for it.

Really? In Google, huh? Couldn't you have just posted the link rather than a smarmy comment, seeing you're an expert 'in google'?
J_rock at 12:24 AM JST - 7th October

I am no fan of this clown, but given the IOC's track record, he's probably right. Still, it's pretty hilarious that a Japanese politician, and a member of the LDP at that, would complain about backroom deals. Irony truly is wasted on Japan.
rogerbentham at 02:45 PM JST - 7th October

ishihara = clown = idiot = psychiatric hospital
dracpoo2 at 10:15 AM JST - 8th October

I agree with sf2k, museum indeed.
RandomTask at 07:40 PM JST - 8th October

So where is his plan to get back all the money he wasted?