Aso addresses IOC evaluation team as Tokyo inspection begins
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ilcub76
...no matter who we have to pay off.
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buggerlugs
Yes Tokyo has the best accomodation if you're the right nationality... how many hotels in japan refuse gaijin... but the transport system can't be faulted that's a truth.
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Den Den
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presto345
This is going to be a very interesting race! Tokyo does have a fantastic infrastructure. For newcomers to this country there is a multitude of maps and guides to help them go around. Even during my first visits here way back I had no trouble finding my way. Many people do speak some English and if they don't they are usually prepared to find someone who does. If you approach them with a friendly attitude and respect, that's what you get in return.
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memyselfI
Friendly attitude on the train ???? Are you kidding me. Today, I was almost stampeded on getting off the train in the morning. Tokyo can't handle it !!!! reasonable accomdations. Yeah sure !!!!! Ohhh yeah !!! During the olympics. Yeah sure !!!!!
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mnemosyne23
I think Tokyo has a very solid chance of getting these games, though of course there are drawbacks.
Chicago is a modern American city and the home of current president Obama, but it's also seen a growth in crime rates in recent years. That, coupled with the fact that the USA has hosted several recent Olympiads, would suggest to me that Chicago is an outlier for selection. However, the USA can certainly support the cost of the Olympics, and there is more to Illinois than just Chicago. It would be an opportunity for visitors to travel farther afield and experience a bit of mid-western America, which is not a bit like the urban centers you see on television.
Madrid, Spain has a long, fascinating history. Madrid has hosted an Olympiad before, and the Barcelona Games of 1992 were excellent, so they have a proven history of hosting the Olympics. However the modern Olympic Games are a VERY expensive proposition, and while I'm not familiar with Spain's economy, I don't know if they would be able to afford the security and infrastructure needs that are incumbent with hosting a modern Olympiad.
Rio de Janeiro is very familiar with large celebrations, being the annual home of Carnivale. It's a bustling metropolis and tourist center, so it already has an established network of hotels and other visitor amenities. It would also be an opportunity for the Games to return to Latin America; I can't remember the last time an Olympiad was hosted in South America. However, a few steps outside of the wealthier districts brings you to the poverty-stricken shantytowns that surround the city. It also has a reputation for violent crime, including homicide and drug-related crime, so security issues -- already prominent during any Olympic discussion -- would be a serious concern. Though it would be a feather in the cap of the IOC to bring the Games to Brazil, I really can't imagine Rio being selected.
This leaves Tokyo, a busy, modern metropolis with an established infrastructure and a history of hosting the Games, located in a country with a fascinating history. The fact that so many venues are already in existence and would just need some sprucing up is a very strong argument in favor of Tokyo's bid for the Games; the fact that new venues would be built so close to the city center is a bonus. Also, given the Japanese government's recent push for increased tourism, the opportunity to host another Olympiad would be like hitting the tourism jackpot.
However, there are drawbacks. First and foremost, the Japanese opinion on "gaijin." It's no secret that Japan is a very ethnocentric country, and an influx of foreign athletes and visitors into the already crowded city of Tokyo might cause undo friction.
Having all the venues close together, while beneficial to the Games, may be detrimental to the city itself, since visitors and athletes who might have been spread out over more of the surrounding country will all be crushed into the city along with the current population. If you think rush hour on the subway is bad NOW, imagine what it would be like with thousands of visitors trying to find their train and not being able to speak the language to ask for directions!
Then there's the cost. Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world for foreign visitors, not to mention living expenses for those who already live there. The global economy should be past this slump by 2016, but that doesn't mean it will be any easier for people to visit pricey Japan, even to see the Olympics. Tokyo might just price itself out of the equation.
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pathat
Presto wrote:
Do you work for Yokoso Japan? Try taking the blinders off and being a little more objective, please.
Tokyo will not win its bid for the 2016 Games; they will go to Chicago or Rio de Janeiro. I hope the successful city is Rio.
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xpompey8
If the Olympics chooses a recycling theme then Tokyo would be a shoe-in because they said they will use some of the facilities back in '64. It's a shame seeing cities spending billions of dollars for these games. Once the games are done then the cities are left with a mountain of debt.
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gogogo
I wonder if the IOC were fingerprinted on the way in?
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gogogo
OH crap... where is this going to be built? I have a feeling in that new landfill in tokyo bay.... anyone have any info?
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OssanAmerica
I guess all the naysayers here aren't old enough to remember that that Tokyo did this before successfully 45 years ago. If anything, it's now better equipped to host the games. As to why any sane city would want to do so in the first place is another story.
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john113
mnemosyne23,
First, I think your observation of candidate cities is basically very objective and thorough.
This is totally a groundless claim and not acceptable. Was there friction between the Japanese and gaijin when Tokyo hosted Olympics in '64 and Nagano hosted Winter Olympics in '98? I guess NO. If you live in Japan long enough, you know that the Japanese enjoy Olympics a lot. Having chance to see foreign athletes will be just an exciting thing.
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john113
gogogo:
The main stadium will be built at the former site for a convention center in Harumi district, just across Sumida River from Tsukiji. There will be NO landfill.
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herefornow
Is that code for "the most congested games"? My God, you can hardly move in central Tokyo without being jostled constantly as it is. And they want to add hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators? Good luck.
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Statistician
It will go to Rio
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soldave
Aso was a young athlete? What level did he compete at as he's making out that he competed at an Olympic level.
Moderator: He was an Olympic shooter at Montreal.
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BigInJapan
Transportation may be good for commuting workers, but last time I was in Tokyo, it was still crowded. I have visualized an extra X thousand tourists during the rush hours.. Also, telling that Tokyo is excellent in terms of accommodation is a joke. Cheap hotels with good access for transportation is rare.
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john113
BigInJapan:
I think you know little about Tokyo, or Japan, in terms of accommodation. There are many cheap hotels close to metro stations if you can't afford staying at a high-quality hotel. For budget travelers, Toyoko Inn is pretty good.
If you really hate to take a crowded train, learn to avoid rush hours. It'd be much more comfortable.
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gogogo
john113: that area is 100% landfill, and it looks like they are building it in the inside of the bay!?
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LIBERTAS
Never a truer word was spoken: From mnemosyne23 above
These sites come to mind, to remind the IOC of the many, many reasons Japan should NEVER host an international event, supposedly promoting tolerance and equality, again: http://nofj16.googlepages.com/home and http://no.tokyo2016.googlepages.com/home
Time to tell the truth about Japan I say.
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john113
gogogo: I said that there will be no landfill. I don't understand the latter part. What do you mean by "inside of the bay"?
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onewrldoneppl
south africa will host africa's first world cup. it's a safe bet that rio de janeiro will host south america's first olympics in 2016. bad timing for tokyo because, another asian country (china) recently hosted a summer olympic games. too bad, so sad but, the times ... as dylan said ... they are a changin'.
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gogogo
john: everything from roppongi to the water line (including odaiba) is reclaimed land, ever wonder why it is so flat?
Inside the bay meaning not on the ocean front but the bay (next to rainbow bridge), this is reclaimed land because I saw them filling it in.
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john113
gogogo: Roppongi is clearly not reclaim land since it's on a hill. Probably you mean Hibiya area. Even Ginza or Nihonbashi area are not reclaim land. You can check maps from Kamakura period for these. The flat terrain in Tokyo is mostly deltas created by rivers including Tone river.
Now I see what you mean by inside of the bay. I just thought that entire waterfront areas in Tokyo are inside the Tokyo bay.
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gogogo
John: Yes Roppongi is not reclaimed, but go down the hill from tokyo tower and your on reclaimed, not sure the exact area, where the minato-ku ward office and highway 1 are, most of ginza is reclaimed, shinagawa etc, in fact so much has been reclaimed no one know exactly what Tokyo Bay used to look like.
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