Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, speaks during the committee's board meeting in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Dec. 22, 2021. (Pool photo)
SAPPORO -- Wary of the high cost of the 2020 Tokyo Games held this past summer, estimated at 1.453 trillion yen, or roughly $12.7 billion, the city of Sapporo, which has an eye on hosting the 2030 Winter Games, faces the challenge of cutting back on ballooning expenditure while closely gauging public opinion.
The estimated cost for the Tokyo Games was reported by the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games during a board meeting on Dec. 22. While the finalized estimated budget is within the range of the first budget of the Tokyo Games announced in December 2016, it is around twice as much as the planned 734 billion yen (about $6.43 billion) when Japan made its bid to host the Summer Games.
The Sapporo Municipal Government had intended to enter into a full-fledged bid to host the 2030 Winter Games after gaining momentum from the Tokyo Olympics, but the wavering of public opinion over the Tokyo Games being held came as a surprise. The city was forced to rework its strategy and present another plan to reduce expenses for the Winter Games, slashing costs by up to 90 billion yen, or about $789 million.
"Making the expenses appear smaller than they are, then saying costs have increased after it's decided (that the city will host the Games) is unacceptable," emphasized Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto in a news conference on Nov. 15, wary of the costs of the Tokyo Games. In July 2019, the city released its plans to reduce expenses for the Games from the initial estimate of 453.7 billion yen (about $3.98 billion) to between 310 and 370 billion yen (roughly between $2.72 billion and $3.24 billion). In the November news conference, Mayor Akimoto disclosed a revised plan which set aside an even lower budget of 280 to 300 billion yen (roughly $2.45 billion to $2.63 billion). The decision came from the wish to make advancements in its bid to host the Games.
Of the revised budget, 80 billion yen (about $701 million) has been set aside as "facility maintenance expenses," which are shouldered by the Sapporo Municipal Government and other owners of each facility, while 200 billion to 220 billion yen (roughly $1.75 billion to $1.93 billion) is set to be shouldered by the organizing committee. However, there was a contrivance behind the budget's disclosure. The majority of the cutbacks of up to 90 billion yen pertained to "facility maintenance expenses." The municipal government set the total amount of these expenses at 80 billion yen, a decrease from the 2019 budget which allowed leeway between 80 billion and 140 billion yen. Though this means the budget saw a reduction of up to 60 billion yen, whether this can actually be carried out is to be determined moving forward, as the amount was merely brought down to the lowest cost originally estimated.
As for the strong points of Sapporo that none of the other candidate cities possess, Mayor Akimoto said, "the biggest point is that the city can host the Games with transport infrastructure, hotels, sporting venues and other facilities that already exist, without having to build new ones." By avoiding preparing facilities that are unlikely to be used after the Games, and making full use of existing ones, the city intends to curb facility maintenance expenses.
In 2014, when the Sapporo Municipal Government had been aiming to host the 2026 Winter Games, it asked residents for their views in a survey targeting 10,000 individuals, and gained responses from around half of them. A total of 66.7% of respondents showed support, saying they either "approved of" or "somewhat approved of" the Games being held. However, even at the time, 49% cited costs as an issue. Taking into account current public opinion, it is unclear whether makeshift cutbacks will earn the understanding of residents. The municipal government will conduct another survey in March 2022 asking Hokkaido residents for their opinion on holding the Games, and it is possible that the results will affect the fate of the city's campaign to host the 2030 Winter Games.
(Japanese original by Junichi Tsuchiya, Hokkaido News Department)
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