Tokyo eyes lotteries to finance Olympic construction

Tuesday 10th February, 06:01 AM JST

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14 Comments

PuffinMuffin at 07:33 AM JST - 10th February

but but what about the recession
tkoind2 at 08:32 AM JST - 10th February

We do not need the Olympics in Japan in 2016. This is another one of Ishihara's get rich quick schemes for the enrichment of his bank account and those of his buddies. This stinks of corruption.

That old man should start thinking about the out of work people in Tokyo. If the old fascist wants to do something with lotteries, let him raise money to build housing blocks for the homeless or to do public works project to put people to work.

Aso, Ishihara and most of the rest of these corrupt guys need to go. I wish the Japanese people would grow a collective backbone and stand up for change.
PuffinMuffin at 09:08 AM JST - 10th February

Maybe he could employ Tokyo's homeless in the Olympics

good idea
tkoind2 at 09:10 AM JST - 10th February

And what happens to those employee's post Olympics? The homeless need sustainable jobs, not some pointless low paying concession jobs.

There are greater priorities for the money that would go to this project. And the impact to the city would be highly negative in terms of lost parks and other impacted facilities.

This is a massive waste of money and a money grab opportunity for a bunch of criminal politicians and their construction industry buddies. Plain and simple.
PuffinMuffin at 09:22 AM JST - 10th February

And what happens to those employee's post Olympics? The homeless need sustainable jobs, not some pointless low paying concession jobs.

Yes but perhaps some might not even be able to choose = worst case scenario.
smithinjapan at 10:14 AM JST - 10th February

There's no need to talk about the homeless in respect to the Olympics, in the event that a "miracle" occurred and Tokyo got them. First and foremost, Japan doesn't have a chance in hell. Second, let's pretend they did, and got the Olympics, you think Ishihara would allow any homeless to remain in Tokyo? No, siree! He'd make quick work of sweeping away all the 'blue sheet' homes and probably pay cops to arrest and tow the homeless out of town.

"The metropolitan government estimates that the costs of constructing facilities, including a main stadium, would come to 240.6 billion yen."

What I want to know is how much it's going to cost strictly for the BID, since it's pretty certain Japan won't get the games. How much money are we wasting just so Ishihara gets one last shot at the big tent?
Samuraiiki at 10:49 AM JST - 10th February

Win the bid for the Olympics first before you start planning. Be prepared for surprises and disappointments if you do not win.
wanderlust at 11:40 AM JST - 10th February

So does this new initiative mean that J-Gov. really does not have the money to back the games, after previously 'guaranteeing' the games financially?
hereandthere at 12:48 PM JST - 10th February

if they make it 100% financing of the Olympics via lotto... I am all for it.
Musubi at 12:57 PM JST - 10th February

Maybe Tokyo's win.
timorborder at 01:22 PM JST - 10th February

Considering his banking finesse, I don't think it is that wise to entrust Blinky with large amounts of money for any Olympic bid. If Tokyo is serious about going forward with this, the national government needs to rest control from Blinky so that he doesn't start making rash promises.

In a more cynical light, I tend to see this whole lotto idea as the government just finding another way of getting into people's pockets.
Statistician at 01:36 PM JST - 10th February

Once the rest of the world gets a flavour of Ishihara's politics I'd say this is a problem Tokyo won't have to worry about.
kanadamanada at 02:29 PM JST - 10th February

Vancouver and the BC government are learning right now just how bad an idea it is to host the Olympics. It's ironic that the world's most debt-ridden country is so hot to host the Olympic Games. More loans, more loans, more loans.