Japanese say Olympic Games was 'waste of money' as budget blowout rankles a year later

Japanese taxpayers have expressed their anger over the cost of Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympics, but most are not particularly surprised given all the controversy around the largest sporting event in the nation's history.

The bill for the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics and Paralympics totalled 1.699 trillion yen (US$12.88 billion), according to an official audit, nearly 20 per cent more than the organising committee claimed in an initial report issued in June.

"Of course I am angry, but this comes as no surprise to me at all," said Jun Oenoki, a founding member of the Cancel the 2020 Olympic Disaster group, which was set up shortly after the International Olympic Committee announced in September 2013 that Tokyo had won the campaign to host the 2020 games.

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"No Olympics in the past has stuck to the budget that was originally set by organisers and it was completely obvious that Tokyo would not be able to do everything it said it would for the budget they announced," he said.

On local and social media, many Japanese citizens have slammed the expenditure and efforts to conceal the true scale of the outlay.

"Sure enough, what everyone was worried about became reality," said one message on the Fuji TV website. "Didn't they say the games would be 'compact' and the costs would not increase?

"These figures do not even cover the huge costs associated with maintaining and managing all the new facilities that were built and there is no mention of responsibility at all," the message added. "Someone has to declare that the Olympics should never be held in Japan again."

On the Yomiuri Shimbun website, another message read: "The new National Stadium was a waste of money. The old stadium should have been renovated. The tournament became a huge waste of money and has left no positive legacy."

Others have pointed to snowballing corruption and bid-rigging scandals linked to the games, with reports suggesting that the entire organising committee was aware that ostensibly competitive bids for contracts were parcelled out in advance while committee members pocketed millions for championing specific companies' bids.

In a report released a year after the games, the organising committee stated that the total cost of the event had been 1.424 trillion yen (US$10.79 billion). The Board of Audit pointed out that several key components of the games had been excluded from that total, including the cost of anti-doping efforts, the renovation of facilities for athletes' training and financial support for local authorities that hosted foreign competitors.

The organising committee also excluded the 33 billion yen (US$250.28 million) for upgrades to the new National Stadium, from its final figure, along with items such as dedicated immigration facilities for athletes and foreign delegations.

Organisers had intended to upgrade existing facilities and host games that would have limited financial and environmental impact. The estimated costs laid out in 2013 were 734 billion yen (US$6.73 billion), and there was a widely held assumption across organising authorities that most of the cost would be recovered through ticket sales, demand for games memorabilia and sales of food and beverages in stadiums.

The pandemic forced the organisers to hold the games in empty stadiums, which significantly weighed on financial considerations.

As a result, the local Olympic committee had to cover 640 billion yen, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government covered 597 billion yen and the national government contributed 187 billion yen. These figures covered cost estimates by the organisers and did not include the additional 20 per cent in the Board of Audit's figures.

Ultimately, the critics point out, Japanese taxpayers will be footing the bill.

"There are plenty of people who are just as angry as me, but there is not a lot we can do now because the money has already been spent and there is no way to get it back," Oenoki told This Week In Asia.

Questions over finances and corruption in the Tokyo Olympics have weighed on the campaign by the northern city of Sapporo to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said in a press conference on Tuesday that his office is "reconsidering" the campaign to host the games and that city residents would be invited to respond to a new survey about whether to continue the bid.

In 2014, 67 per cent of Sapporo residents voted in favour of a campaign to host the games, but that declined to a 52 per cent in another poll conducted in March this year. The mayor is planning a new postal vote in the spring.

Yoko Tsukamoto, an academic who lives in Sapporo, is in favour of the city hosting the games, but said that the most older residents have been put off by cost issues and corruption over the Tokyo games.

"Different generations think about it differently," she said. "When I talk to younger people and young parents with children, they are very much in favour as it gives us something to look forward to and encourages children to take part in sport. For them, the Winter Olympics would be a dream come true.

"But older people feel very differently," she admitted. "The high costs and the possible impact on their lives are their biggest fears."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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