'The Olympics should have been an opportunity to relaunch Japan'
James MundyThe only thing that has been certain throughout the pandemic is that nothing is certain.
However, it is now certain the Tokyo Olympic Games will go ahead this week – not only without international spectators, but without domestic fans too, putting an end to lengthy speculation. The International Olympic Committee’s insistence this games will go ahead is a great loss to overseas fans, who also won’t get to experience the magic of Tokyo and Japan.
With another state of emergency declared in Tokyo, aiming to slow the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, the games are not popular in Japan. After being the first ever games to be postponed back at the beginning of the pandemic, it will now be the first to be held without fans too.
From that moment you leave the plane in Tokyo, things are different; there’s a jingle for everything, everyone is immaculately presented in their uniforms, the signs look different, the vending machine snacks are unrecognisable, the trains are organised (and on time), everything is clean.
All that before you leave the airport. It’s all very noticeably different, your eyes widen with excitement despite the jet lag.
If you speak to anyone who was at the 2002 football World Cup, co-hosted by Japan, and the 2019 Rugby World Cup, they will tell you how good it was – not because of the event, but because of Japan.
They will regale you with stories about their experiences of staying in a traditional ryokan guest house, getting naked with other bathers in an "onsen" hot spring bath, and of a funny night out at an izakaya, Japan’s equivalent of a pub, followed by some karaoke – of course.
They will also tell you about how the trip wasn’t as expensive as they thought it would be, about the amazing trains and the even more amazing toilets – they never cease to amaze people.
They will talk about going to Kyoto and seeing its many temples and Kanazawa for its beautiful gardens, about heading into the mountains to a hot spring town, about how there was a lot more countryside and less neon-tinged cities than they thought there would be.
Every visitor will also mention the people and the welcome that they got from Japan that made the visit and the event so special and memorable.
These, and the other experiences of a first-time visitor to Japan, will be missing from this games. The governing bodies that insisted this games go ahead despite the extraordinary circumstances will have denied thousands of athletics fans the opportunity to experience this uniquely different country and culture.
It was supposed to be an event the country would be proud of. Thankfully, Japan is very much a first-world nation and will not suffer as much as other poorer nations might have through being forced to hold a people-less games. An unfortunate certainty, though, is that the pride of Japan will have been damaged through not being able to hold a "normal" games.
The Olympics was an opportunity to "relaunch" Japan, especially the recovered Tohoku region of the country, which suffered greatly after the 2011 tsunami. It would have been a chance to highlight the beauty and richness of rural Japan, sitting north of Tokyo.
There is no doubt Japan would have pulled out all the stops – and they may still – but we won’t get to experience it live. Another certainty, it is that Japan always blows expectations out of the water and delivers something even better than imagination allows for.
There is hope international TV coverage will show Tokyo and Japan in a favourable light and that it will still get pulses racing for millions of people, thousands of miles away across the globe.
There is still hope it will ignite a desire to know more about this other world and culture, which can’t quite be grasped through a TV screen, and that the coverage will capture imaginations and leave people wanting to know more.
It is a great shame, though, for the Olympics that through the governing body’s insistence that the show must go on, they have damaged their brand and a massive opportunity to allow fans to experience their event in a place like no other. They have denied people the chance to experience Japan.
InsideJapan ran small group tours during the 2002 World Cup and had its most successful year ever helping thousands of people explore and enjoy Japan during the Rugby World Cup in 2019. However, having not sent anyone travelling since March 2020, we can’t wait to help people discover the country and get under the surface of its culture again.
Taking people to lesser-known areas of Tokyo or the sights of Kyoto are what InsideJapan does well. But it is the jumping on a local train, bus or cable car, getting people to don their walking shoes to take in ancient walking trails across the mountains of central Japan, staying in local guest houses in unassuming villages, calling at local shrines, tasting Japan’s local specialities and experiencing omotenashi Japanese hospitality, and opening up the off-radar cities, towns and people that InsideJapan does best – and provides those memorable moments.
Japan is best seen up close and experienced first-hand.
James Mundy is PR and partnerships manager at InsideJapan Tours.
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