Japan’s excitement, expectations high for 2020 Summer Olympics

TOKYO » On a window ledge in the offices of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, high above the city, a traditional red and white daruma is prominently displayed.

That both its eyes have been blacked in is symbolic testament to the realization of a major goal, the securing of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games.

The occupants will tell you, when they slow down from the frenetic pace of activity, that is, that the daruma aside, that was just the beginning.

Even with five years to prepare for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, there is much to do and there are many lofty goals to be met.

From suit and tie municipal and Japan Olympic Committee officials to jump-suited trainers and sweat-stained athletes the feeling is that having the games is an opportunity to present a resurgent and progressive Japan.

If the 1964 Summer Olympics, the first in Asia, were about Japan’s maturation as a country and emergence from the ashes of World War II, then 2020 is to display the country’s revival from the calamities of 2011, the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident that ravaged its northeast regions, including the Fukushima nuclear plant just 160 miles north of this city of 13 million.

In addition, the country hopes to underline a renewed economy and new-found vibrancy, Tokyo Olympic and Foreign Ministry officials say.

"We want to show the world that Japan has recovered from the disaster," said Hidetoshi Fujisawa, Tokyo 2020 executive director of communications and engagement. "Our hope, our aim is to take this opportunity to show the world a changing Japan." One that Fujisawa said, "is a more receptive society within ourselves and to the world."

Hiroko Kaizuka, a senior deputy director in the Foreign Ministry, said, "This is our opportunity to show our country to the world going forward and (demonstrate) that Japan isn’t just anime and technology." It pledges to do it in a increasingly green, carbon-neutral way.

In 1964 from the country town of Tokushima on Shikoku Island, Fujisawa glimpsed wide-eyed on the modern marvel of the day, black and white television, the spectacle of the Tokyo Olympiad.

As a high school freshman he swelled with national pride that Japan was host to the world and the excitement the Games brought.

Now, a half-century later, the 67-year-old Fujisawa still vividly recalls the first two-time marathon winner, Ethiopia’s Abeabe Bikila, and the gold-medal-winning Japanese women’s volleyball team. "Our wish is that these Games will leave a rich legacy, too."

Young Yamagata fencer lives, trains in Tokyo

Sakura Maruyama is 13 years old and not much taller than the fencing epée she resolutely points at her foe.

She is far from her northern Japan home of Yamagata, brought to Tokyo to live and train at the start of-the-art Ajinomoto National Training Center, a hoped for springboard to a place on the Japan Olympic team.

She is among the youngest on the sprawling seven-year-old, 95,334-square-foot campus that includes an athletes’ village and multiple sport-specific training centers.

The goal of those who use it is, as a sign declares, to "Raise the hinomaru (Japanese flag) on the center pole," a reference to the gold-medal stand at the Olympics.

Though she begrudgingly admits to some homesickness she said the opportunities available to her outweigh the pains of separation from family and friends. Where else, she says, could she train under a veteran coach from Europe?

"The environment is excellent for learning my sport," she says.

The eight-story facility and adjacent Japan Institute of Sports Sciences include a cafeteria, restaurant, cafe, MRI room, human performance lab, sports psychology lab, rehabilitation room, biometrics lab, dormitory, research lab, nutritional and medical facilities.

Masataka Tsuruta of the Japan Olympic Committee said 500 athletes a day can use the facility.

Fencing wasn’t Maruyama’s first or even main sport — the taiko was — but in fencing she sees an opportunity to find a competitive niche.

"I hope to realize my dream through my work here," she said.

Fencer Yoshiaki Abe, by way of testimonial, says, "We’re all gunning for the Olympics here and the atmosphere is electric. It makes me determined to strive for excellence."

Paralympics give hope to disabled community

Perhaps no segment of Japan’s population is more looking forward to the Olympics than the Paralympic and disabled community.

"The (Games) have given a ray of hope to the people," said Hiroshi Yamakawa, who heads the Yokohama Rapport Sports Center for the Disabled, which has been among the forefront mainstreaming the disabled through sports.

The "rapport" in the title of the facility comes from the French and refers to a "harmony of spirit," which Yamakawa says he hopes will surround all athletes in the Games.

"They have been waiting for the changes these events are bringing," Yamakawa said.

In Japan, where the society revolves around conformity, the disabled have often been shunted aside or ignored.

After the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano there were few changes benefitting the disabled, Yamakawa said.

Yamakawa said, "We’ve been working many, many years toward this goal, of course, but the influence of the Olympics has put pressure on the government. Just since the announcement (in 2013), we are encouraged."

At Yokohama Rapport, which is in the shadow of the mammoth 80,000 Nissan Stadium, a wide range of sports are offered. Many of them attracting participants from outside of the Yokohama area, Yamakawa said, because "not all (communities) yet offer these opportunities."

Yamakawa said he’s noticed an increase in the number of people taking up sports since the announcement awarding the Olympics and Paralympics to Tokyo. "Maybe they don’t think they will be able to compete at that (Olympic level), but it has people excited," Yamakawa said. "That is good for them and for us as a society. It can be a bridge between people, with the Olympics helping to penetrate society."

Expectations high for Japan’s judo competitors

The debut of judo as an Olympic sport came in the 1964 Tokyo Games, and the return of the Olympics to the birthplace of the sport is cause for celebration at the Kodokan, its spiritual home, in Tokyo.

The judo competition will again be held at the Budokan adjacent to the Imperial Palace.

"This is a wonderful thing," said the aptly named Chikara Kariya, deputy manager of the Kodokan Judo Institute, whose first name is written with the character for "strength." He said, "It was something we have been looking forward to but didn’t know if it might happen again in our lifetime."

Japan’s supremacy in the sport has fallen off over the years as the popularity of judo has spread around the world.

In the 2012 London Olympics, Japan won just one gold medal, and that was on the women’s side, marking the first time that Japan’s men had been shut out.

"There are high expectations (for 2020)," Kariya said. "In targeting the (2020) Games we want to include more of the younger judoka of that generation and have them display not just the power but the judo spirit as well."

Talent discovery program unveils athletes’ strengths

It is evening in Fukuoka and dozens of youngsters who already play one sport have carved out time to take part in a two-hour battery of exercises once a week that measure their abilities across sprinting, cycling, riflery, boxing and other activities.

Around them coaches with clipboards, measuring devices and watches chart their progress and point them on to the next stage.

Yukiko Shukuri watches her 14-year-old son, Yuta, and says even though it is late at night by the time he gets home, he is one of the "lucky" ones.

Of the more than 47,000 who applied for admission to the Fukuoka Prefecture "Talent Discovery Program" fewer than 1,000 were selected.

The aim, organizers say, is to assess skills across a wide range of disciplines and discover where a young athlete’s abilities might best be suited. Sometimes, said Hironobu Takaki, section chief of the sports science, they can be found outside the one the athlete has been participating in.

In some cases, he said, they can be channeled into sports that hadn’t previously tried or considered. Shouichi Furusawa, sub section chief, said they can be pointed toward sports where there are fewer participants and have a better chance to excel.

"The birth rate (in Japan) has been in decline, and sometimes the number of competitors in a sport doesn’t leave many for other sports," Takaki said.

Some graduates of the program have gone on to find success in disparate sports and been selected for international competition or the JOC’s Elite Academy program.

The idea — switching over in sports after devoting several years to one — flies in the face of sports culture in Japan, Takaki said. "There is a samurai philosophy that once you start (a discipline) you should continue it to the end." Takaki said, "The choice is up to the athlete, of course, but when they have the information and a list of the options, they can then come to see what can be the best fit for them."

On their way out of the facility, youngsters stop in front of a long glass trophy case displaying pictures and artifacts from the 1964 Olympics.

"Who knows?" Takaki said. "Maybe, after the 2020 Games, some of them will have their pictures there."