And much of that came from wasteful infrastructure in the 1980s and 1990s. It already has $10.5-trillion in public debt, equal to about 230% of its gross domestic product - the highest among developed countries. Gwynn Guildford in a posting on the Quartz website says there’s also real concern about Japan’s fiscal stability. Many feel that the rest of Japan is already forgetting about them, and that the Japanese government only cares about getting the other nuclear power plants back on line. “But what about the people who live in Fukushima?” About 100,000 people are still unable to go home because of the nuclear disaster that struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant more than 2½ years ago. “It is no threat to Tokyo.” “No threat to Tokyo maybe,” my friend said. A friend of mine who was born could hardly contain her fury this week when she heard Japan’s Olympic committee chief Tsunekazu Takeda reassuring the IOC about Fukushima. Such words are cold comfort to the people affected by the power plant meltdown, notes the BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes. “It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.’’ They referred to a $4.5-billion reserve fund already in place to cover Olympic cost contingencies and polls showing travelers think Tokyo is the safest city in the world … Abe made a seemingly impossible guarantee there would be no more present or future health-related problems related to radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear plant 150 miles from Tokyo … “Let me assure you, the situation is under control,’’ Abe said. “You’re in safe hands with Tokyo” was what the Japanese emphasized, actually using the words “safe pair of hands” as a bid theme. With a philosophy that seemed borrowed from Allstate commercials, Tokyo convinced the International Olympic Committee to give it the 2020 Summer Olympics. Philip Hersh, a sports columnist for the Chicago Times, says Tokyo was helped to a win by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s insistence there would be no radiation problem. Tohoku’s slow recovery from the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis were mentioned on several occasions by different speakers during Tokyo’s final presentation. There clearly was also an emotional element to Tokyo’s bid. Of course, budgets and sporting passion, the war in Syria and high unemployment in Spain were not the only factors being discussed by pundits and Olympic officials in the Argentine capital. This was Istanbul’s fifth bid, for instance Madrid’s fourth, and third in a row Tokyo’s third, and second straight. After the luxury of choosing among some of the world’s finest cities or turning to so-called ‘new horizons,’ verdict offered evidence to some that the IOC picked what it had, given what it had. Reporting for 3 Wire Sports from Buenos Aires, Alan Abrahamson offered this analysis of the IOC actions. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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