Japan says Tokyo may drop 2020 bid

Drop the bid? I would run this by Gov. Ishihara first.

"Exit with Honor !"

and well they should. first - money could be used elsewhere in this country - what with all the disasters, or don`t they know about them. and second, would the country even be ready in 2020 - at the rate they are going, those bozos in the government will still be trying to oust each other while 9 years on people will still be suffering.

Drop it, save the money. Get rid of Ishihara while at it!

If we are lucky our "Dearest Leader" Ishihara will be long in his retirement home or will have joined the choir invisible long before Japan has another chance to waste money on the Olympics.

Now we can get on with using that money where it is needed. Once we wrest it from the old man`s hands.

you have to look at this from an economical standpoint. it costs over $100 million to present a viable presentation to the IOC, but the economic benefit to Tokyo and Japan are over billions of dollars in infrastructure, tv revenue and tourism. yes, ishihara is a madman for trying to get the summer olympics again after 2 failed bids, but the boon to the economy would benefit many.

a

bentheredonthat. Not entirely true. The tax burden on Japan will be considerable as it is for disaster recovery and rebuilding. Hosting the Olympics will divert funds to projects that Tokyo does not need. While we get benefits in infrastructure, those can be costly and many host cities have had net losses resulting from hosting the games.

The up side on this does not outweigh the downsides. Tokyo would incur considerable costs in security, impact to daily life as construction proceeds, loss of public spaces to make way for Olympic venues, increased tax burden, increased strain on transportation infrastructure.

There is no upside for Tokyo. If we are talking about a smaller town in the west of Japan that could benefit from the increased investment, then I may agree with you. But for Tokyo, I guarantee there will be net loss and not net benefit.

Please use the money to build new homes for the people

After the Nagano games, they destroyed many of the venues because they could not maintain them. So yeah, it is great for infrastructure....not!

They also shredded all the invoices and receipts very soon after the Nagano games, so that people would never know the real cost or find the paper trail for bribes, gifts, donations, grants and other financial incentives to get the games.

I think its great if Tokyo won the bid, however Olympics these days is to show off developing cities, such as in China and Brazil, it would make sense if Russia, India or even Cairo won the bid

Tokyo's bid is now definitedly dead in the water, pull the plug NOW!

They should've pulled out already, after the earthquake.

Olympics these days is to show off developing cities, such as in China and Brazil, it would make sense if Russia, India or even Cairo won the bid

Unfortunately you are right about the political reasons for selections these days. If you remember, they cops forced all of the day-laborers out of the parks in Osaka for the World Cup, China ran off the vagrents for their Olymips, South Africa closed the shanty towns before the World Cup, Dehli ran the beggars out before the Commonwealth games (which were a complete bust). The venues should be chosen where the worlds top athetes can do their best agains their peers, not for political or PR purposes.

Summer games in Cairo or India.......I think NOT.

Finally, some common sense!

They'll end up bidding anyway just so they don't lose face, turn it into a ganbare thing :(

it would make sense if Russia, India or even Cairo won the bid

Uh, anglootaku, you are aware that Russia is hosting the 2014 Oympics, right?

There is still hope. Go 2020 Olympics in Japan!!!

You DON'T have a good chance, and never have! Drop it now and save the people some money, please. No doubt Ishihara will still demand Tokyo goes ahead.

tkoind

what do you mean by a "tax burden on japan?" taxes aren't being raised to host the olympics. funds are already in place and being used for infrastructure (take a look at shinjuku station) since ishihara tried to get the summer olympics last time. if you look around tokyo, it's a constant construction site because the city was preparing for 2016. yes, host cities usually create white elephants that are costly, but tokyo already has most of the venues built. very few new venues were planned. security costs means new jobs for thousands of people. loss of public space in tokyo? can you name one that will be lost? locating the summer olympics in a small town in tokyo would create white elephants. that's the problem with small cities hosting a big events. only large metropolises could possibly re-use the venues.

i don't condone tokyo going for the 2020 olympics, but I can see why ishihara wants to though.

I'd love to see Blinky back down on something for once. If it were his pet project for immortality, I'd be clicking my heels in the air. Surely now even he must be able to see he'd be peesing our money away on his vanity, when it could be better spent on recovery.

Oh wait, I was forgetting - the disaster was divine punishment, wasn't it? Perhaps if we atone for our greed by dedicating the Olympics as an offering, we'll be granted absolution. What a risible old turd.

Preparing a bid costs megabucks. Just drop it now and be done with it. Ishihara gets no legacy except for a failed bank, but hey, that's life, ain't it?

If you remember, they cops forced all of the day-laborers out of the parks in Osaka for the World Cup, China ran off the vagrents for their Olymips, South Africa closed the shanty towns before the World Cup, Dehli ran the beggars out before the Commonwealth games (which were a complete bust). .....................................

then Japan should stay with the bid, imagine they can run all the gaijins out !!

anglootaku:

I think its great if Tokyo won the bid, however Olympics these days is to show off developing cities...

like London? ;p

Tokyo can do it. They don't need to build anything. If you prepare the Olympics similar to what Los Angeles did in '84 by using all the existing facilties and College dormitories, they can do it on very tight budget. Japan needs some type of boost for confidence.

Despite the building of the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Monorail to Haneda, the 1964 Olympics were a disaster for Tokyo. Enormous swathes of the city were destroyed... ask anyone who was around then. I shudder to think what kind of projects they would dream up if they 'won' the 2020 bid.

Consider the state Japan is in right now, I think it's the right thing to do....for now.

Glad to hear Japan decided to pull out from the bid. It is the right thing to do at this moment.

I am proud to tell you my state in US decided to drop a Winter Olympic bid many years ago as we wanted to protect a beauty and nature of our State. It is still beautiful place to live, thank god!

Japan needs some type of boost for confidence.

quite the opposite, it needs a slap for arrogance.

Tokyo can do it. They don't need to build anything. If you prepare the Olympics similar to what Los Angeles did in '84 by using all the existing facilties and College dormitories, they can do it on very tight budget. Japan needs some type of boost for confidence.

And many did not like it due to tax hike,

It only helped business community and unemployed.

The Japanese government would be wise to concentrate its efforts on making its economy strong first. Spending huge amounts of money on a white elephant like the Olympics is not a good idea.

That would be a shame. I'm certain the Olympic committee's vetting team was looking forward to dining on boeuf a caesium in Tokyo.

...so Wednesday’s success by Pyeongchang is expected to diminish the chances of Tokyo making a successful bid.

Really? The spewing radiation from the unprecedented nuclear disaster up the coast that will take decades to contain and repair has nothing to do with it? Of course.

globalwatcher Jul. 10, 2011 - 07:00PM JST. And many did not like it due to tax hike, It only helped business community and unemployed.

What tax hike? There was none. 1984 LA Games proved to be successful. Under strict restrictions against spending local tax dollars, the City of Los Angeles assigned management of the Games to a non-profit committee which raised private funds to finance the Games. In cooperation with surrounding jurisdictions and the federal government, the city provided key services, such as police and fire protection, transportation planning, and visitor services under contract to the Olympic Committee and used two Olympic-related taxes to pay for these services, with the Olympic Committee paying for additional expenses. The 1984 Olympics resulted in an estimated economic impact of $3.3 billion on Southern California and left Los Angeles with a number of new and refurbished sports and cultural facilities. Moreover, the Olympic Organizing Committee accrued a surplus (profit) of over $215 million, 40 percent of which was targeted to benefit youth sports organizations in southern California.

Ishihara will carry on regardless: much of the money spent on the bid goes to his family and cronies and he won't want to let them down.