2020 Japan Olympics

[Samurai_Jerk]

tokyo2020.jpg

OK I have been holding back from asking, but I will hold back no longer. What is the source/reference for the artwork? Is it anything more than the Sisyphean task of running an Olympics, with the addition of a guy in an isolation suit, or is there a deeper cultural reference which is whistling past over the top of my head?

No clue. Someone posted it on Facebook.

[Wage Slave]

Not a Sisyphean task at all really, putting on the Olympics - I mean it will definitely be over. More like a Herculean task. Perhaps the artist is making a comment about Japanese life in general but I reckon Japanese ways have more in common with Sparta. Oft, but not always, minus the laconic bit of course.

[wagyl]

Not a Sisyphean task at all really, putting on the Olympics - I mean it will definitely be over. More like a Herculean task. Perhaps the artist is making a comment about Japanese life in general but I reckon Japanese ways have more in common with Sparta. Oft, but not always, minus the laconic bit of course.

And maybe the institutionalised pederasty.

Rolling the boulder/hinomaru uphill reminded me of Sisyphus, but I take your point, clearly and accurately made. I just thought that the artwork might be mimicking something iconic, like the Marines erecting the flagpole on Iwojima iconic, that I had missed, especially with the

That is awesome

Agreed.

That pic sums it up all.

responses, but maybe not. As I get older I am taking less of an interest in popular culture, especially as it is so ephemeral these days. I was afraid I had missed something.

[Salty]

And just exactly where is that quintessential Japanese phrase - This is a pen?

[Coligny]

I thought it was not Magritte !?

Leaving confused...

[matsuki]

Not a Sisyphean task at all really, putting on the Olympics - I mean it will definitely be over. More like a Herculean task. Perhaps the artist is making a comment about Japanese life in general but I reckon Japanese ways have more in common with Sparta. Oft, but not always, minus the laconic bit of course.

And maybe the institutionalised pederasty.

Rolling the boulder/hinomaru uphill reminded me of Sisyphus, but I take your point, clearly and accurately made. I just thought that the artwork might be mimicking something iconic, like the Marines erecting the flagpole on Iwojima iconic, that I had missed, especially with the

That is awesome

Agreed.

That pic sums it up all.

responses, but maybe not. As I get older I am taking less of an interest in popular culture, especially as it is so ephemeral these days. I was afraid I had missed something.

I thought is was more of a representation of looking like idiots geting dirty/sinking, trying to prevent the hinomaru from rolling further down hill. It also is a "setting sun" with that color in the sky. I'm not sure if it's a play on some other pop-art though.

[Coligny]

There is a comie porpagrandra feel to it...

image.jpg

But in a defeated kind of way instead of the usual glorious/triumphant.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Maybe it's just the uphill battle of trying to make Japan great again. Notice what the guys pushing the Hinomaru are wearing.

[Mike Oxlong]

Or they found the missing reactor core...

[matsuki]

Maybe it's just the uphill battle of trying to make Japan great again. Notice what the guys pushing the Hinomaru are wearing.

Thought about that as well but look at the muck they're standing in....and it's pretty obvious it's meant in a mocking way with the Olympics added in.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Maybe it's just the uphill battle of trying to make Japan great again. Notice what the guys pushing the Hinomaru are wearing.

Thought about that as well but look at the muck they're standing in....and it's pretty obvious it's meant in a mocking way with the Olympics added in.

How does that disagree with what I said?

[wagyl]

Maybe it's just the uphill battle of trying to make Japan great again. Notice what the guys pushing the Hinomaru are wearing.

Thought about that as well but look at the muck they're standing in....and it's pretty obvious it's meant in a mocking way with the Olympics added in.

How does that disagree with what I said?

As I learned in another thread, it is perhaps foolish to read Matsuki's statements as carefully crafted statements of his beliefs. For example, "definitely a move in the right direction" can mean "I am resigned to the tides of change imposed from above, and the most I have is a vain hope that my interests will be considered by the powers who are driving these changes."

[matsuki]

Maybe it's just the uphill battle of trying to make Japan great again. Notice what the guys pushing the Hinomaru are wearing.

Thought about that as well but look at the muck they're standing in....and it's pretty obvious it's meant in a mocking way with the Olympics added in.

How does that disagree with what I said?

Uphill battle vs. Mission Impossible

[legion]

Maybe it's just the uphill battle of trying to make Japan great again. Notice what the guys pushing the Hinomaru are wearing.

Thought about that as well but look at the muck they're standing in....and it's pretty obvious it's meant in a mocking way with the Olympics added in.

How does that disagree with what I said?

Uphill battle vs. Mission Impossible

Wife says it just makes her think of elementary school undokai.

[Mike Oxlong]

Maybe apropos to the local situation.

[Coligny]

Too depressing can't watch it again... Rather do a rerun of that sexy interview with Ed Snowden...

Fap fap fap...

[kurogane]

Not a Sisyphean task at all really, putting on the Olympics - I mean it will definitely be over. More like a Herculean task .

Your attention to detail is appreciated

Matsuki,
If you take off your Soy Tinted Goggles for a second I think you will find most of what is going on in Tokyo is about the same as what goes on anywhere the IOC manages to latch its filthy claws. That it's being done in local gangbang style (aka Failure by Committee) shouldn't be surprising, and if it is.....well.............. We had just as many 2010 Bandwagonburners as anywhere, and they were just as tiresome, blustering and Panglossian. And just as wrong. My only hope is that those stupid or bored enough to give a shiite about such shiite manage to at least enjoy themselves, if only because that's a pretty expensive bill for a disappointment. And they are rather adorable when they have something to go all RunRun over.

[matsuki]

Kuro - in general, I totally agree. I'm just on about all the new goals set by both the j-gov and companies that are based on the 2020 olympics. Some will be good for us (wifi, roads) and others are just unrealistic or pointless. This type of shit: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/0 ... e4lZ1WeDRZ

One thing I just noticed is pachinko has been saved yet again....woohoo?

http://www.realmoneyaction.com/japan-de ... -olympics/

[kurogane]

I get what you're on about, my point is that this is the standard issue hype marketed Olympic flavoured crapwich with a dash of soy and tooth sucking, along with some Pearl Harbor level incompetence. Even with cost overruns and these ridiculous logo issues it is not even close to a scandal by Olympic standards; these are mere early days hiccoughs. The economic development premise of Olympic bids is like a $125 hamburger: you can sell it anyway you like, and people that buy one will probably rave and dance, but it's still just a hamburger, and anybody can get a good one of those for less than a 1/4 the price. Like John Coffey (like the drink but not spelt the same) said:

That's how it is all around the world.

A simple if expensive series of infrastructure investments would achieve the positive results and avoid all the boondoggling, but having shiny baubles to wave in front of those that like that stuff helps to make it politically viable. Sadly, people like that sort of vapid shit, and if they don't stop fucking it up soon even lots of those people will see the Olympic chimera for what it is. At least here in Vancouver most people still drone on about what a wonderful thing it was and how lucky we are to have been blessed with it But I happily admit the plebs are much less likely to revolt when they have shiny distractions at hand.

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

[matsuki]

Fair enough, I guess every country will flavor their Kool-Aid accordingly...

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

I really really really really really want to see proper gambling hit here and what happens as a result. I've got no interest in gambling, just a morbid curiosity at how the current pa-chinchin-ko regime will react.

[Wage Slave]

And they are rather adorable when they have something to go all RunRun over.

Exactly right. And they will put the volunteering in London to shame. So as long as it all comes right in the end and happiness prevails then I am perfectly prepared to pay my share in spite my view of the worth of the Coca Cola/MacDonalds Olympics. And yes, it's not only here that a majority of people think it's all a wonderful shiny thing well worth the cost and effort.

And you never know, the country might yet get an iconic state of the art multi purpose venue in the middle of Tokyo. And there might well be enduring growth in the tourism industry.

[Salty]

... venue in the middle of Tokyo. ...

That would be somewhere near Tachikawa?

[Samurai_Jerk]

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

I really really really really really want to see proper gambling hit here and what happens as a result. I've got no interest in gambling, just a morbid curiosity at how the current pa-chinchin-ko regime will react.

If they only allow tourists to gamble like some other counties have done, pachinko will be fine.

[matsuki]

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

I really really really really really want to see proper gambling hit here and what happens as a result. I've got no interest in gambling, just a morbid curiosity at how the current pa-chinchin-ko regime will react.

If they only allow tourists to gamble like some other counties have done, pachinko will be fine.

Another step to be like Best Korea?

[kurogane]

And they are rather adorable when they have something to go all RunRun over.

Exactly right. And they will put the volunteering in London to shame. So as long as it all comes right in the end and happiness prevails then I am perfectly prepared to pay my share in spite my view of the worth of the Coca Cola/MacDonalds Olympics.

Yes, well put,verily verily doth do I agree.

And yes, it's not only here that a majority of people think it's all a wonderful shiny thing well worth the cost and effort.

And it probably is a majority, so fair enough for curmudgeons like me. My argument remains that more targeted specific policies would achieve similar economic development results at much, much less cost, but I cannot discount the motive power of the Shiny Shiny in getting more people behind such investments. I am starting to find this whole Tokyo Boom rather troublesome, but I'm a cranky git, so feck me. I can always head straight to Shimoda or Soto-Boso if the crowds are too much. Those places are enjoying quite a rust belt decline it seems judging by the cost of real estate and the mass sell off going on.

If they only allow tourists to gamble like some other counties have done, pachinko will be fine.

As shocking as that would be, I admit I would love to see them try it, complete with No Dogs No Japanese signage, if only for the comic outrage that would result. It might even lead to a Bruce Lee nostalgia boom, as he fights off the evil colonials to salavage native pride, like in Fists of Fury. Where he fought the Japanese

[Coligny]

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

I really really really really really want to see proper gambling hit here and what happens as a result. I've got no interest in gambling, just a morbid curiosity at how the current pa-chinchin-ko regime will react.

If they only allow tourists to gamble like some other counties have done, pachinko will be fine.

Another step to be like Best Korea?

Or an indiun reservashiun...

[matsuki]

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

I really really really really really want to see proper gambling hit here and what happens as a result. I've got no interest in gambling, just a morbid curiosity at how the current pa-chinchin-ko regime will react.

If they only allow tourists to gamble like some other counties have done, pachinko will be fine.

Another step to be like Best Korea?

Or an indiun reservashiun...

I wish that were the case...instead you got tons of alcoholic degenerate gamblin' injuns in many of them.

[Salty]

But at least they saved the pachinko. It is in keeping with the shiny baubles motif...........

I really really really really really want to see proper gambling hit here and what happens as a result. I've got no interest in gambling, just a morbid curiosity at how the current pa-chinchin-ko regime will react.

If they only allow tourists to gamble like some other counties have done, pachinko will be fine.

Another step to be like Best Korea?

Or an indiun reservashiun...

I wish that were the case...instead you got tons of alcoholic degenerate gamblin' injuns in many of them.

Sorta like pachinko...

[matsuki]

Sorta like pachinko...

Exactly like pachinko....except the reservation revenues don't go to bribing police and shady private organizations.

[wagyl]

Sorta like pachinko...

Exactly like pachinko....except the reservation revenues don't go to bribing police and shady private organizations.

Which dreamland are you in?