Ishihara wants royal help for Tokyo's Olympic bid
TOKYO —
Tokyo’s Olympic bid committee will ask Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako to help its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, matching stars lined up by other candidate cities, Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara said this week.
“It will be absolutely necessary to solicit kind help from the imperial family for the benefit of the Japanese people and for the history of Japan,” said Ishihara, who also heads Tokyo’s Olympic bid committee.
“We plan to make a formal request through the government in the days ahead,” he said, adding that it might be too unconventional to ask Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to undertake the role.
He said Tokyo would ask the 49-year-old prince to present its bid to around 100 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Oct 1, the day before the meeting in Copenhagen at which they will choose the Olympics venue.
The four candidate cities will also have an opportunity to showcase their bids to IOC members at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne in mid-June.
Ishihara was speaking after hosting a reception for 56 Tokyo-based foreign diplomats, including 17 ambassadors, to promote Tokyo’s plan to host what it calls the “most compact and environmentally friendly” Olympics.
Tokyo’s plea to the royals follows its rival candidates’ support from their global celebrities.
Chicago has U.S. President Barack Obama and Rio de Janeiro Brazilian football legend Pele, while Madrid has a galaxy of Spanish soccer stars as well King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
Brazil was represented by a senior diplomat at Tokyo’s reception. The United States and Spain did not attend.
Ishihara, 76, a novelist-turned-politician famous for controversial remarks, said he had not sought the support of a prominent political figure because it was uncertain who would head Japan’s government in October.
Polls show that the Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Taro Aso, a former Olympic clay target shooter, could lose to the opposition Democratic Party in a general election which must be held by September.
“There has been a succession of prime ministers in recent years but I’m not sure if they were material or figures who can symbolize Japan,” said Ishihara.
Wire reports
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14 Comments
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spudman
Gravy train to give Ishihara's mates a payback from public funds.
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some14some
OR (Slippery) Silk Roads in Tokyo !
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realist
Ishihara "for the benefit of the Japanese people and the history of Japan." Now there`s a quote and a half. For someone who denies the history of Japan in the middle of the last century, this is really rich. Ishihara is a fascist and racist, and the very fact that he even wants the Olympics to come here, give his xenophobic views of foreigners, is ludicrous.
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Potsu
Might do more harm than good....
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stirfry
why would that help ? nobody cares who they are outside of japan
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gogogo
Japan should not win the Olympics. I hope they lose their bid.
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Sarge
"Japan ( Tokyo ) should not win ( host ) the Olympics"
Why? Too crowded?
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spudman
No they hosted it in 1964, when was the last city to host the olympics? probably LA in 1932 and 1984. The Chinese in Asia just had the games so the IOC should be looking at the southern hemisphere. Brazil.
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presto345
The IOC will probably have a good look. But I doubt they will find an infrastructure like in Tokyo, nor the commitment the Japanese have to offer.
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spudman
True but Pele versus the ghosts? Brazil wins. Heck anyone with a personality wins, who has heard of the Japanese royals outside of Japan?
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stirfry
wonder if the IOC will remember japan's bait-and-switch for the nagano games...promised to pay every athlete's transportation to the venues, and when they actually got the games, came up with 97 excuses why they couldn't...not sure how outright lying goes over with the IOC
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LIBERTAS
http://nofj16.googlepages.com/home & http://no.tokyo2016.googlepages.com/home are just 2 of the sites which come to mind which tell the entire world why Tokyo most definitely should NOT get the Olympics. I'm with spudman, it should be Rio de Janeiro!
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Ninjazilla
Rio needs to deal with its massive crime problem.But Rio still has more of a chance than Tokyo.
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saborichan
"“There has been a succession of prime ministers in recent years but I’m not sure if they were material or figures who can symbolize Japan,” said Ishihara."
Hahah. Yes, you'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel getting a J-pollie up.
How about some talents? They could offer one another yakitori and say it's oissshiiiii
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