2020 Olympics: Tokyo accepts ‘painful’ decision to move marathon to Sapporo

Move follows Olympic committee’s sudden decision to relocate event to avoid sweltering heat

Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, has reluctantly dropped her opposition to the International Olympic Committee’s surprise decision to move next year’s Olympic marathon and walking events from the capital to the northern Japanese city of Sapporo due to concerns about the heat.

“We cannot agree with the final decision, but the IOC [International Olympic Committee] has the authority to change [the location],” Koike said on Friday in a meeting with IOC representative John Coates. “The most important thing is to assure the success of next year’s Games.”

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‘This is not a “what if” story’: Tokyo braces for the earthquake of a century

They call it X Day – a major earthquake striking the heart of the world’s most populous city in the most calamitous event since the second world war. Can hi-tech solutions save Tokyo?

Every day, at 5pm, the gentle melody of the children’s song Yuyake Koyake chimes across the Minato area of Tokyo from a loudspeaker – one of hundreds dotted across schools and parks throughout this megacity of 37 million people.

The daily jingle does more than signify the arrival of evening. It is a test for the system that is designed to save Tokyoites from what would be one of the worst natural disasters in recorded human history: an earthquake striking the centre of the most populous city on Earth.

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東京の転換点:日本の首都はついに開かれるのか

日本が移民を受け入れ、その首都がオリンピックの開催準備を進める2019年は、世界最大のメガロポリスが真のグローバル都市になる年かもしれない

暖かい5月の夜、東京・歌舞伎町にある思い出横丁の狭い路地では、背もたれのない椅子に腰かけた旅行者たちが、英語で書かれた焼き鳥のメニューを熱心に眺めている。また、ある者たちは、燃えるようなド派手な「ロボットレストラン」へと押し寄せ、ネオンの光輝く洞窟のようなホールでアニマトロニックなキャラクターたちのダンスを楽しんでいる。そうかと思えば、この街を舞台にしたSF映画に登場したネメシス、「ゴジラ」の前で自撮りにいそしむ人たちもいる。隣町の渋谷の路上では、マリオやルイジといったマリオカートのキャラクターを真似たと思しきコスチュームを着て、ゴーカートの隊列を走らせている。(先週、任天堂は「マリカー」に対する著作権侵害の裁判で二度目の勝訴を得た。)

何十年にもわたり、訪れる者に対して閉鎖的な都市として有名であった日本の首都が、ついに外の世界へと開かれようとしている。昨年、観光客数は記録的な水準にまで増加した。特に中国からの観光客数の伸びが顕著だが、他の欧米諸国からの観光客も同様である。来年の夏には、東京はオリンピックとパラリンピックでその門戸を大きく開放する。日本は、制限的なことで有名であった入国管理法令を緩和したが、この動きは確実に東京の姿を一変させるだろう。東京には、既にコワーキングスペースや本格的なカフェ、海外ブランドのブティックをはじめとして、「グローバル」都市を彩る要素が点在している。

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Tokyo’s tipping point: is the impenetrable city finally opening up?

As Japan’s capital welcomes immigrants and prepares to host the Olympics, 2019 could be the year the world’s largest megalopolis goes truly global

On a warm May evening in the narrow alleys of Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) next to the Kabukicho district of Tokyo, tourists perched on stools study English-language menus offering skewers of grilled meat and vegetables. Others crowd into the garish, glowing Robot Restaurant, a cavernous hall of flashing neon and dancing animatronic figures, or snap selfies in front of the giant replica head of the city’s sci-fi nemesis, Godzilla. In neighbouring Shibuya they drive convoys of go-karts through the streets wearing costumes bearing a suspicious resemblance to Mario, Luigi and the other Mario Kart characters. (Last week Nintendo successfully sued the “MariCar” company for copyright infringement for the second time.)

After many decades as a famously impenetrable city to visitors, Japan’s capital is finally beginning to face outward. Tourism, particularly from China but also western countries, rose to record levels last year, and next summer the city will slide open its doors for the Olympics and Paralympics. The country has relaxed its restrictive immigration rules, a move that promises to transform Tokyo. The capital is already dotted with co-working spaces, artisanal coffee shops, international brand boutiques and the other accoutrements of a “global” city.

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Paralympics GB stunned after Yokohama hotels demand payment for accessibility

• Paralympics GB team hit with ‘huge headache’ for training camp
• Senior figure says hotels have shown a ‘total lack of interest’

British Paralympic officials say they were left stunned when hotels near their training camp for the 2020 Games demanded they pay to make rooms accessible for wheelchair athletes – and then pay again to convert them back afterwards.

One senior figure said there had been a “total lack of interest” from hotels they had contacted in Yokohama when it came to helping the British Paralympic team, who will make their final preparations in the city ahead of Tokyo 2020. Another source said the issue had been a “huge headache” for more than 18 months.

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Tokyo 2020 organisers cut crowds at sailing events over tsunami risk

Olympic authorities reduce crowd size to make evacuations easier

The organisers of next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo have decided to cut the number of spectators for the sailing events by a third so they can be quickly evacuated to higher ground in the event of a tsunami.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics organising committee had initially planned to allow up to 5,000 people to watch the sailing events off Enoshima island, just south of the Japanese capital, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

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