Shinzo Abe’s unbelievably bold and creative cameo kicked off excitement for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and also signaled to the world that Japan is ready to embrace and share its pop culture to the world as Tokyo plays host to the Games.
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Rio de Janeiro’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, passed the baton (in this case the Olympic flag) to the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, who was dressed in a attractive, light-colored kimono, fitting for the momentous event.
Fully aware of the burden of getting her city ready for the summer games, Yuriko Koike remarked that the Olympic flag “seems heavy” adding that “I feel the full weight of the responsibility it entails”.
Also present was three-time Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle wrestler Saori Yoshida, the captain of the Japanese Olympic team who won 53 kilograms silver at Rio 2016, and decathlete Keisuke Ushiro, Japan’s flagbearer at Rio 2016.
She however expressed her “delight” to bring the Olympic flag to Japan again “more than 50 years after the 1964 Olympics”.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared on screen, shown on his way to the Rio 2016 closing ceremony.
For all we know, the folks at Japan may come up with a creative way to celebrate the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and it is through introducing life-like, one-off games with proper medals.
Some sporting events for the 2016 Rio Olympics were removed but golf did make a return. Together, they looked over “cooperation proposals for the Tokyo 2020 operation plan” with an eye toward a “sustainable future”, according to Nikkei. A few months ago, it was reported that costs had increased to $15 billion.
On the other hand, despite the fact that many are expecting great things from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Japanese committee did not escape allegations of corruption.
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Tourists, officials and athletes have had to dodge the scenic city’s notorious street crime, structural problems inside the Olympic Village were a challenge and the Olympic diving pool turned green.
