Learn about expenditure problems for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Hello, and welcome to the Culture Class: News and Current Events in Japan, Season 1 - Lesson 9, Expenditure Problems for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics |
| Japan is set to host the Olympics in 2020, but the planning has been a series of financial mis-steps, in-fighting, and other setbacks. |
| In this lesson, we'll learn about this news story. |
Lesson focus |
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| "I will see you in Tokyo!" said Prime Minister Abe, who appeared in a spectacular performance at the end of the Rio Games in 2016, but the facts of Japan’s situation do not add up. |
| First, we made a serious blunder in regard to the design of the main venue. |
| Just before construction began, following the design of the UK architect Zaha Hadid, the planners reached the conclusion that the design was financially and technically impossible, resulting in the adoption of a Japanese design. |
| Of course, it goes without saying that a huge penalty was incurred. |
| Subsequently, the plagiarism of the official emblem was also raised, so a new designer was recruited and a new design was adopted. |
| Since this occurred after an official poster had already been created, containing work which was already considered "plagiarism," it was basically the equivalent of flushing money down the toilet. |
| If you thought that it was finally settled, there still remains the issue of increasing expenses for the construction of various convention facilities, such as boat venues; playing hot potato with the burden of construction costs of temporary facilities; the problem of security and transportation expenses, which have not yet been delegated; etc. The problems surrounding the "Olympic costs" have been erupting one after another and then deteriorating. |
| Despite a winning presentation with the aim of achieving an Olympic event with the smallest budget ever, there are those who speculate that the cost may grow to exceed 3 trillion yen. |
| Even though I would like Tokyo Governor Koike and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Yoshiro Mori, to discuss such problems seriously, the fierce conflict between those two has turned this into a more confusing situation. |
| There is always a tense atmosphere between Mr. Mori and Governor Koike. Koike stands for Metropolitan Government reform, and Mr. Mori is involved in the conflict inside the LDP and is part of the "Koike Hate" group. |
| It is of the utmost importance that the athletes who will gather from all over the world in three years do their absolute best, but since the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964, Japan’s financial circumstances have changed greatly. |
| It is necessary to hold this event on a realistic scale. |
Outro |
| Those are the key facts about the expenditure problems for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. |
| If you want to find the related Japanese keywords, make sure to check out the lesson notes. |
| Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and keep listening for more of the most talked about news stories in Japan! |
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