Japan’s government "should shield Tokyo from the ballooning cost of hosting the next Olympics," the city’s new governor has demanded, saying contracts to carry out work for the 2020 Games "have been systematically overpriced," according to Robin Harding of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Yuriko Koike: “Naturally, I think there should be a cap on the cost. There’s talk of ¥2T or ¥3T [about $20B-$30B] but we’ve no idea what it will cost in the end. ¥3T is too much -- so the question is how can we get that cost down.”
She also said, “Originally the Olympics and Paralympics were just Tokyo. But given that we’re trying to disperse them to various regions, shouldn’t the government participate more?”
Her remarks highlight the possible transformation of the Games as the governor "seeks to slash costs by shrinking venues, moving events out of Tokyo and shifting the expense to other funders."
A project team set up by Koike "has already proposed drastic revisions to three venues."
Her demands are "a headache" for the Tokyo organizing committee and for PM Shinzo Abe, who "has tied his personal prestige to the Olympics" (FT, 10/7).
SEEKING EXPLANATION: KYODO reported Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government "plans to ask the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to further explain a report it prepared suggesting bold changes to preparations for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics." A panel set up by Koike recommended in the Sept. 29 interim report a "reconsideration of the way spending is divided between the metropolis, central government and organizing committee." Suga told a news conference that Tamayo Marukawa, minister in charge of the Tokyo Games, "has instructed the Cabinet Secretariat to pose questions to the metropolitan government’s reform task force, which received the report from the panel" (KYODO, 10/7).
