Blame news cycles, but I¡¯m coming in late to the discussion on Tokyo¡¯s successful bid for the 2020 Olympics. Sorry. The most poignant stuff has already been said, but I would add these thoughts.
Probably unsurprisingly, I was not a supporter of Tokyo¡¯s candidacy. Part of it is because I have a hard time enjoying events where individuals are reduced to national representatives, saddled with the pressure to prove an apparent geopolitical superiority through gold medal tallies. Guess I¡¯m just grouchy about international sports.
That said, this time around, the wheeling and dealing at the International Olympic Committee has been particularly distasteful. Unlike the IOC, I can¡¯t forget Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose¡¯s denigration of fellow candidate city Istanbul for being ¡°Islamic¡± (conveniently playing on widespread Western fears of a religion and linking it to social instability). This was especially ironic given rising xenophobia in Japan, where attendees at right-wing rallies have even called for the killing of ethnic Koreans who have lived in and contributed to Japan for generations.
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