Why Tokyo 2020 Can Be More Financially Successful Than Previous Games

Shotaro Honda Moore
8 min readSep 27, 2019
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There are often debates as to what the actual economic benefits of hosting an Olympic Games are. The answer can often seem quite ambiguous, as it is often said the games value encompasses more than simply money. While this is certainly true, with Japan knowing more than others the positives of hosting an Olympics, the financial situations of the games cant be merely overlooked. Recent games such as the 2016 Rio Summer Games and the 2004 Athens Summer Games are proof this. If things are mismanaged and everything isn’t accounted for, the economical effects of hosting large scale events such as the Olympics can be felt throughout a country. However, positivity remains strong throughout the general public that Tokyo 2020 can harbor much more economic gains than previous games. Lets take a look at just some of the factors that can help these games be more financially successful than games of the past.

The 1964 Tokyo Games & Tokyo 2020: Round Two

This upcoming Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games is not the first go round for the Japanese government when it comes to organizing the summer games. Tokyo hosted them back in 1964, and at that time it was the most expensive Olympic Games to date, with a budget of roughly 2 billion USD. Despite the huge financial burden it placed on Japan, it is easy to see the benefits far outweighed the negatives. This is because the 1964 Tokyo Games were not about simply making money, but rather to change the stigmatism and help create a new global identity for the country.

Courtesy of NBCSports.com

Tokyo 2020 is quite different as the objective is less about changing negative feelings fostered towards Japan, as they aren’t so prevalent nowadays. So this games determination of success will be measure more about the financial aspects than its predecessor. When analyzing whether this hope for a prosperous games has some basis, it is easy to see the source of optimism felt by many. This previous experience hosting the world’s largest sporting event is extremely valuable to the planning committee, who can draw upon their predecessors knowledge to avoid problems.

Shotaro Honda Moore

A writer living in Japan. Creating articles about the 2020 Tokyo Games. A regular contributor to Junkture Magazine. https://www.junkturemagazine.com