Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday visited a boat race course in Miyagi Prefecture, a facility that has "emerged as an alternative venue for the rowing/canoe sprint events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics," according to KYODO. Koike said, "I will consider venues based on this visit." Games organizers and the Int'l Rowing Federation had "already approved the Sea Forest Waterway venue to be constructed on Tokyo Bay, but a Tokyo metropolitan government cost review panel recommended last month that this and some other plans be reconsidered." Yoshihiro Murai, the governor of Miyagi, one of the prefectures in northeastern Japan hit hardest by the March '11 earthquake and tsunami, said that "accessibility would not be an issue" with the Naganuma course as transportation infrastructure is in place and "no extra burden will be placed on athletes." He also said that a temporary housing area used by disaster survivors "will be renovated to create a barrier-free environment for Olympians and Paralympians." Koike: "Seeing the temporary houses reborn for the Olympics and the Paralympics could be a big message that these Games are to show how the region has recovered" (KYODO, 10/15).
