Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

So, Tokyo’s bidding for the Olympics again. They tried desperately to get 2016, but Rio de Janeiro played the “what-about-us-down-here?” card and the Games finally headed to South America for the first time. Emotionally, you can’t argue with that. Rio is one of the world’s most famous—and South America’s most visible—cities. And so the International Olympic Committee got that monkey off their back.

A Brazilian journalist friend of mine wasn’t convinced it was a wise choice. “It really is a dangerous place,” he pointed out. Well, at least Rio will be able to get in some practice with the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The IOC hasn’t always made intelligent choices. Athens 2004? The Olympics that bankrupted a country? Again, it was an emotional choice—the home of the Olympic movement. Tokyo 1964. Wow! Just 15 years after trying to destroy the world, Japan was given a chance to try and unite it. I guess the IOC bought into Japan’s idea of burying history. Seoul 1988? I think North Korea was more democratic than South Korea at the time. Scumbag dictator Chun Doo-Hwan and his Vogon troops were still slaughtering people a year before the Games began. Berlin 1936? Yes, Jesse Owens was a welcome highlight, but they were Hitler’s Games. (Meanwhile, Japan forced Korean marathon gold medalist Son Ki-Chong to race under the Japanese flag).

Brazil has come under fire for its poor preparations for the 2014 World Cup (as did South Korea in 2002), but will probably work things out. But one wonders if there are many cities/countries in the world that can provide a suitable, cash-rich, safe venue for the Olympics. Personally, I would like to see the IOC build a permanent Olympic city and end this “bidding” nonsense. Maybe Greece could give up an island and a new Olympia could flourish as a Vatican City-like state within a state. Until that happens, we’re left with pulling names out of a hat.

And now, Tokyo’s name is back in there. I’m happy, but many aren’t. With a whole section of the country in need of rebuilding, why endorse a massive, expensive project like the Olympics? Private money might well help fund the Games, but it would be underwritten by national and local governments. Which means it will be underwritten by our tax yen. Montreal famously took 30 years to pay off its 1976 Olympic debts. So would the Tokyoite get value for money? Hard to say. Although the Olympics are awarded to a city, the country bathes in their reflected glory—just look at Britain. It’s a grand PR tool.

Except when your bid is in the hands of idiots. Chief Tokyo idiot Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is a strong supporter of the bid, but comes with so much baggage that he should stay away from the campaign. Most Westerners in Japan see Ishihara as an unequivocal fascist, aligned not just with the right-wing, but with the murderous uyoku who parade around Tokyo in intimidating black trucks. He doesn’t believe in the West’s view of Japanese history and can’t keep his mouth shut on issues such as the Nanking massacre. Ishihara is not as stupid as he looks and probably not as evil as some believe. But for the Tokyo Olympic bid, he’s a disaster.

Ahead of the vote on the 2016 Olympics, Ishihara made an appearance at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan and allowed himself to be sidetracked by his ugly politics to the detriment of the PR the conference was aimed at promoting. For the final presentations, Tokyo’s PR gurus got it completely wrong, forcing PM Hatoyama to take the podium and make an arse of himself with his mangled English. The presentation needed clarity and passion; it got the wet-fish treatment. It was a sad and disastrous anti-climax to Tokyo’s bid efforts.

What was overlooked was the fact that the Tokyo bid was far-and-away the most attractive in terms of facilities and finance. Tokyo needs to put the PR right this time. The IOC has noted that the support rate among the public for the 2020 Olympic bid was much lower for Tokyo than its two rivals, Madrid and Istanbul. This was also a problem with the 2016 bid. Madrid had a rating of 78 percent support, Istanbul 73 percent. Tokyo trailed in at 47 percent. Game over, then?

Have Tokyo’s PR gurus done the math? Probably not, because they didn’t do it four years ago either. Madrid: population 6.2 million; 4.83 million people want the Games. Istanbul: population 14 million; 10 million want them. Tokyo: population 35 million; 16.4 million people say yes. Apparently 30 percent of Tokyoites had “no opinion.”

Ishihara has reportedly accused the Japanese of lacking the conviction to achieve anything great. Perhaps they’re more concerned with surviving on a day-to-day basis, keeping their jobs, worrying about earthquakes and tsunami, and staying sane in the face of deranged, ignorant and criminally selfish politicians.

The people of Tokyo deserve the Olympics and an opportunity to be proud of their city. And hopefully by 2020, they will also have a governor they can be proud of.

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