2020 Japan Olympics

[Coligny]

"It is inappropriate and gives the wrong impression about the issue of contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi," Suga said. "It is extremely regrettable."

How cute... Must be heartbreaking for them to discover that newspapers that are not the lapdogs of politicians and conglomerates can still exist...

/freedom of press is a bitch...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Le-Canard-Enchaine_2669102b.jpg

I love the way the French can be openly racist in their newspapers even well into the 21st century...

It might have been funny, if what the announcer was saying made any sense.

Satire is not always funny to the unwashed masses. That's why you can still watch MTV and some rerun of jackass. Win-win all around...

Cabu (the illustrator) has been around since before I was a kitten. He can put on his resume that he's on the shitlist of 90% of the politicians and CEOs of the country. And the 10% remaining just whish they had done something worthwhile enough to be one of his targets.

What I'm saying is that "Thanks to Fukushima, sumo is now an Olympic sport" is a clumsy attempt to link the two things and doesn't really make sense.

[Coligny]

Unless you read it as a criticism of the influence of a "pity vote" in favor of Japan for the Olympic bid because of Fukushima.

[Coligny]

I didn't see anything specifically racist in the cartoons either.

But they are in pretty poor taste.

Doing a tastefull satire of a tasteless situation would miss the point.

Bringing bread and circus while people are still in temporary housings, expelled from shelters or declaring cold shutdown without a clue of what is going on, crush from a poor taste standpoint anything that could be drawn by even the most depraved frog.

[Yokohammer]

It just seems really ham-fisted and clumsy, Coligny.

It doesn't really make any kind of point.
It's not witty, it's not incisive, it's just bonk-fart schoolyard type humour.

I would have expected a bit more wit and refinement, and maybe even a message ... especially from the most nuclear power plant infested nation in the world.

[matsuki]

Caption contest!!

"Can't wait to see what effect Fukushima has on the Olympics, just look how it has improved sumo!"

[Samurai_Jerk]

Caption contest!!

"Can't wait to see what effect Fukushima has on the Olympics, just look how it has improved sumo!"

Much, much better.

[Isle of View]

Le-Canard-Enchaine_2669102b.jpg

I love the way the French can be openly racist in their newspapers even well into the 21st century...

It might have been funny, if what the announcer was saying made any sense.

Satire is not always funny to the unwashed masses. That's why you can still watch MTV and some rerun of jackass. Win-win all around...

Cabu (the illustrator) has been around since before I was a kitten. He can put on his resume that he's on the shitlist of 90% of the politicians and CEOs of the country. And the 10% remaining just whish they had done something worthwhile enough to be one of his targets.

As subtle and witty as Jackass.

Time for Cabu to retire.

[Russell]

Tokyo Olympic athletes risk blistering temperatures

Olympic athletes risk the hottest weather in more than a century at the 2020 Tokyo Games as high summer temperatures in the capital highlight concern about holding global sporting events in extreme conditions.

Tokyo is set to host its second Summer Olympics in July and August, the hottest months in the city, where temperatures soared to 38 degrees last month. FIFA, soccer’s global ruling body, will meet next month to discuss switching the 2022 World Cup to Qatar’s winter amid concerns the summer heat would be unsafe for players and fans.

A temperature of 38 degrees or higher during the men’s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics would make it the hottest in at least 120 years. The warmest marathon in the history of the Olympics took place in 1900 in Paris, when more than half the runners had to withdraw due to exhaustion as temperatures were estimated at between 35 and 39 degrees, according to the Journal of Sports Sciences.

“It is unwise to plan an event in such extreme conditions,” said George Havenith, a professor of environmental physiology and ergonomics at Britain’s Loughborough University who has visited Tokyo several times in the summer. “There also is an increased risk for the spectators.”

In addition, the higher humidity in Tokyo makes summer temperatures feel even hotter than in such climates such as Athens, where there’s less moisture in the air, according to Tadayuki Iwaya, a Tokyo-based meteorologist at Weather Caster Network.

The temperature would feel like 63 degrees should the mercury hit 38 degrees in combination with Tokyo’s average 71 percent humidity, according to the U.S. National Weather Service’s Heat Index calculator. By comparison, the average daily high of 33.2 degrees and 45.3 percent humidity in Athens when it held the marathon in August 2004 would feel like 35 degrees, according to the index.

When Tokyo staged the Olympic Games in 1964, it was October, when the mean daily high was 19.6 degrees, data from the Meteorological Agency show. Tokyo’s mean highs were 31.4 degrees in July and 33.2 last month.

Hisao Shuto, a spokesman for the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee, said an organizing committee will be set up in February to hammer out the details of Tokyo’s event.

Japan proposed that the Olympic Games be held from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020, according to its plan for the event. Istanbul suggested Aug. 7 to Aug. 23, and Madrid the same dates, according to an International Olympic Committee report on the rival bids.

The dates for the Tokyo Games were proposed to correspond with the international sports calendar, specifically between July 15 and Aug. 31, said Andrew Mitchell, media relations manager for the IOC.

“The health of the athletes is clearly a top priority for the IOC, but at this stage it is too early to comment on any specific measures, such as holding the marathon in the morning at Beijing 2008,” Mitchell said.

Other countries have held the Olympics at later dates. Sydney hosted the event from late September to early October in 2000, as did Seoul in 1988, while Mexico held the games in October 1968.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter faces opposition to rescheduling the 2022 World Cup from Europe’s biggest soccer leagues, clubs and broadcasting rights owner, which are all concerned changing the dates would disrupt national leagues and clash with other sporting events. FIFA may have “made a mistake” in awarding the World Cup to Qatar in the summer, Blatter told Inside World Football.

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said last week FIFA officials should have held more discussions about Qatar’s summer climate before the Middle Eastern country was awarded hosting rights in December 2010.

The combination of humidity and heat in Japan could be debilitating as athletes seek to compete at the highest level. More than a dozen people in the nation died of heatstroke and thousands were hospitalized last month when the mercury in Tokyo climbed to 38 degrees.

More

[wagyl]

If you had been paying attention you would have known that the New York Times failed to pick up that story from a real journalist.

[Coligny]

Seriously, i though aboot it, then assumed that since they did it in 64 it was ok. Not knowing that it was october 64.
Spent 2 hours putting vinyl on mah tail light yesterday, then passed out in mah bunk from the heat stroke. Still feel like i've been run over by a freight train. And yesterday was barely in the 28 with some wind,nothing like the august post obon hell on earth heat humidity combo where you can die trying to reach for the newspaper in the mailbox...

[matsuki]

Tokyo's medical facilities gonna get put to the test...and probably fail

[Mike Oxlong]

Rie Tanaka Tokyo Orimpikusu!
........................................................

[GomiGirl]

[Russell]

Japan votes on the musical act they most want to see in Olympic opening ceremony

With the Olympic Games slated to return to Tokyo in 2020, a lot of prep work needs to be done. And as facilities are being planned and developed there’s also the difficult task of providing entertainment, particularly in the opening ceremony. China’s powerful and impressive ceremony raised the bar for what’s expected of a country in terms of presenting their culture in a fun and meaningful way.

To get the ball rolling, the Japanese Olympic Committee held a survey asking everyone which musicians they would most like to see appear at the opening ceremony. A total of 143,394 people responded and the following top 20 artists were recently announced.

#1 – Southern All Stars (8,939 votes)
#2 – Arashi (7,482 votes)
#3 – Exile (6,820 votes)
#4 – SMAP (5,956 votes)
#5 – Yuzu (3,760 votes)
#6 – Dreams Come True (3,167 votes)
#7 – AKB48 (3,057 votes)
#8 – Hikaru Utada (2,952 votes)
#9 – B’z (2,840 votes)
#10 – Akiko Wada (2,336 votes)
#11 – Misia (2,240 votes)
#12 – Mr. Children (2,146 votes)
#13 – Saori Yuki (2,114 votes)
#14 – Masafumi Akikawa (2,063 votes)
#15 – Masaharo Fukuyama (2,015 votes)
#16 – Saburo Kitajima (2,010 votes)
#17 – Keisuke Kuwata (1,944 votes)
#18 – Ikimono Gakari (1,888 votes)
#19 – Kiyoshi Hikawa (1,876 votes)
#20 – Namie Amuro (1,814 votes)

Naturally with a ranking of this nature, readers’ reactions were mixed. Some expressed surprise at the first place choice saying “Southern [All Stars] are still alive?” Others went after the various idols and pop acts on the list with comments like “AKB and Arashi? Seriously stop. Especially AKB, we’d be an international laughing stock.” and “If we’re including idols, vocaloids and anime songs should also be included.”

Commenters need not worry, however. These results simply express who members of the public want to see at the opening ceremony and may not be what we’ll see on stage in seven years, especially with AKB48 who probably will have become a completely different group of girls in such a stretch of time.

It seems a little early to be choosing a representative band given the rate that music changes, but it’s good to see the JOC getting to work and testing the waters.

Link

Time for FG to get the vote out?

[Coligny]

No Ayumi Harmazaki
No Kumi Koda ?

No more love for the lemur slutz...

[Russell]

Tokyo govt rejects demand to help pay for stadium

The Tokyo metropolitan government turned down the central government’s demand to shoulder 30 percent of ¥300 billion in costs for constructing the New National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Discussions between the central and metropolitan governments have already been held, and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has urged the metropolitan government to shoulder part of the construction costs.

“It is Tokyo that will gain the largest benefit from reconstruction of the stadium,” the ministry said. But the metropolitan government refused and the talks remain deadlocked.

More

[IparryU]

Good! No need to waste anymore money on this sham. Doesn't Tokyo already have all the stadiums to host the Olympics?

Sent from my SC-03E using Tapatalk 2

[matsuki]

Japan votes on the musical act they most want to see in Olympic opening ceremony

#8 – Hikaru Utada (2,952 votes)

Time for FG to get the vote out?

I know what song she should sing too...

Also...Tokyo gov refuses to pay for even 30% Tokyo Olympic stadium. How about just calling it the Japanese Olympics since the whole cuntry is gonna end up paying for it?

[Taro Toporific]

="chokonen888"]...Tokyo gov refuses to pay for even 30% Tokyo Olympic stadium. How about just calling it the Japanese Olympics since the whole cuntry is gonna end up paying for it?

Tokyo 2020 Olympics stadium to go ahead as planned despite cost issues
japandailypress.com Nov 18, 2013
Japan Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said they are still pushing through with the original plans for the futuristic-looking new Tokyo Stadium that will be built as the centrepiece of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This is after issues about the size and cost of the stadium came out from prominent architects and also residents who will be affected by the construction.
Takeda told the International Olympic Committee during their two-day orientation seminar that their previous announcement that they will be scaling down does not mean they will be building a smaller facility. He said they are aware of the criticisms and concerns, but emphasised that “nothing has been decided yet and we still plan to have an 80,000-seat stadium.” The original cost for the new stadium, designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, was at $3 billion but after the issues were raised, the government said they are bringing it down to $1.3 billion. However, they have not shared yet the specifics on what will be trimmed down except to say that the original design will still be kept, including the retractable roof.
More...

[Coligny]

More sand on the concrete mix...

[Wage Slave]

More sand on the concrete mix...

Not likely. If there's one thing Japan prides itself on - it's concrete.

[Mike Oxlong]

More sand on the concrete mix...

Not likely. If there's one thing Japan prides itself on - it's concrete.

Really, it's more of a volume thing, not any pride in quality that I can see. Dents on the shinkansen from concrete chunks falling from tunnels and the like...

[wagyl]

I'm pretty staggered by the concept that there was enough fat in the original plan to be able to trim 56% of the budget, no sweat.

I am also under no illusions that the plan, original or amended, will be built within those cost budgets.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Hurry up and extend the Yurakucho Line. An extra way to get home would mean I get some something back from this tax suck.

[Coligny]

I'm pretty staggered by the concept that there was enough fat in the original plan to be able to trim 56% of the budget, no sweat.

I am also under no illusions that the plan, original or amended, will be built within those cost budgets.

Ok, so now we know for sure you never took part in any taxpayer funded project...
The best I saw were those in which initial funds are used to grease people and minor cost overrun pay for the actual project done by subsubsubcontractors anyway...

[IparryU]

I hope he doesn't get to compete in the 2020 when he gets out of jail...

Olympic judo champion loses appeal over 5-year jail term for rape

Japanese double Olympic judo gold medalist Masato Uchishiba lost an appeal on Wednesday against a five-year jail sentence for raping a teenage student.

The Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court’s verdict, rejecting his repeated claim that the sex was consensual, but Uchishiba’s defence counsel immediately appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

Uchishiba, 35, was feted as a national hero after bringing home gold medals in the 66kg class during the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

In February, the married judoka was convicted of the assault on a member of a college judo club he was coaching after she fell asleep in a Tokyo hotel following a night out.

Prosecutors said the incident occurred in September 2011, when the women’s judo club from Kyushu University of Nursing and Social Welfare had been on a visit to Tokyo.

“The victim was considerably exhausted after judo training and drank alcohol,” judge Akira Kanaya of the Tokyo High court said, according to the Jiji Press news agency.

The judge said that he had faith in the girl’s testimony that “she was assaulted when she woke up in bed”. The victim is not being identified publicly because of the nature of the crime.

On the other hand, the judge said Uchishiba’s testimony was “not trustworthy as it is unnatural and irrational”.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/olympic-judo-champion-loses-appeal-over-5-year-jail-term-for-rape

[Isle of View]

="chokonen888"]...Tokyo gov refuses to pay for even 30% Tokyo Olympic stadium. How about just calling it the Japanese Olympics since the whole cuntry is gonna end up paying for it?

Tokyo 2020 Olympics stadium to go ahead as planned despite cost issues
japandailypress.com Nov 18, 2013
Japan Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said they are still pushing through with the original plans for the futuristic-looking new Tokyo Stadium that will be built as the centrepiece of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This is after issues about the size and cost of the stadium came out from prominent architects and also residents who will be affected by the construction.
Takeda told the International Olympic Committee during their two-day orientation seminar that their previous announcement that they will be scaling down does not mean they will be building a smaller facility. He said they are aware of the criticisms and concerns, but emphasised that “nothing has been decided yet and we still plan to have an 80,000-seat stadium.” The original cost for the new stadium, designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, was at $3 billion but after the issues were raised, the government said they are bringing it down to $1.3 billion. However, they have not shared yet the specifics on what will be trimmed down except to say that the original design will still be kept, including the retractable roof.
More...

What's so futuristic about Godzilla's bicycle helmet.

[Russell]

2020 Tokyo Games facilities to showcase domestic wood

[matsuki]

2020 Tokyo Games facilities to showcase domestic wood

Well you know that they say, what Japanese wood lacks in size, it makes up in stiffness.