Factfile: Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics bid

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Factfile on Tokyo, one of three cities bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, ahead of the vote by International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in Buenos Aires on Saturday, September 7.

TOKYO

Status: capital and Japan’s biggest city

Population: 13,282,271 (estimate as of August 1, 2013). Greater Tokyo, a megalopolis that includes the city of Yokohama, as well as other urban areas, is home to around 35 million people.

Size: 2,188.67 square kilometers (845 square miles)

Geographical situation: Tokyo is located on the Pacific coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu, in the Kanto region. The weather in summer is generally humid and hot.

History: Tokyo, a former fishing village, was the seat of the Tokugawa clan’s military “Shogunate”, which ruled over Japan for more than 270 years from a city then called “Edo”. The military government was replaced in 1868 when the emperor’s authority was restored. It became the nation’s capital with the emperor moving his palace from Kyoto. Renamed Tokyo (Eastern Capital), it has grown into the world’s largest megalopolis, despite devastation in World War II.

Olympics already hosted in Tokyo: One, in 1964

Number of Olympic bids: Five (for 1940, 1960, 1964, 2016 and 2020)

Note — They were awarded the 1940 Games but were then stripped of the right to host them. Helsinki replaced them but in the event because of World War II the Games were cancelled.

Olympics already hosted in the country: One in summer (Tokyo, 1964), two in winter (Sapporo, 1972; Nagano, 1998)

Projected budget for 2020: The total budget is set at $8.5 billion with $3.8 billion earmarked for construction of venues and other Olympic-related facilities.

Composition of Buenos Aires delegation: A 100-plus delegation led by Tokyo 2020 president Tsunekazu Takeda, who is also president of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Other key members include Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose, Tokyo 2020 CEO and JOC vice president Masato Mizuno. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also be in attendance.

Slogan: “Discover Tomorrow”

The 2020 candidature file: Tokyo claims to be the “safe pair of hands” that can be trusted in uncertain times. It also offers unmatched personal safety and financial security as well as world-class infrastructure for a compact Games, with 85% of the Olympic venues located within eight kilometers (five miles) of the athletes’ village. Organisers say strict anti-quake measures mean the city is safe and insists there is no danger from radiation from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

State of progress: Of the 35 venues and Olympic-related facilities, 20 will be newly built, with nine of them for temporary use. An 80,000-seat National Stadium, with a retractable roof will be built, regardless of the bid outcome, at a cost of $1.3 billion. – Rappler.com