Tag Archives: Qatar

Japan must work to ward off ‘Olympic Curse’

Published by Japan Today Oct. 13, 2014

TOKYO — Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe recently convened the first meeting of the Council to Think of Tokyo’s International PR, an impressive collection of some 15 people from various fields (industry leaders, media strategists, think tanks, journalists) charged with discussing in a frank manner what it will take to successfully host the 2020 summer Olympics.

Topics included the need for better signage in international languages; better wireless availability; places to eat and sleep in Tokyo for those of us who can’t afford luxe; and a successful branding strategy to communicate with the outside world.

It is heartening to see Tokyo planning now for an event that may seem far off in the future. Hosting a monster event like the Olympics is a major undertaking, one that involves a massive infusion of public money and a realignment of public priorities, all on the bet that the payback will be worth it. Continue reading …

The Olympic Curse – or, how do you do it like Barcelona?

Oct. 2, 2014

Hosting a monster event like the Olympics is a major undertaking, one that involves a massive infusion of public money and a realignment of public priorities, all on the bet that the payback will be worth it.

Sometimes, a host city measures its Olympic success more in symbolic and political terms than in dollars and cents.

In 1936, the National Socialist government in Germany, which had been awarded the Games before the Nazi rise to power, saw the summer Olympics in Berlin as a chance to propagandize its views of racial supremacy.

The 1964 summer Olympics in Tokyo allowed Japan to demonstrate it belonged to the community of nations.

Sometimes, the payoff is clear in economic terms. Continue reading