Everything you need to know about the Tokyo Olympics
The 2020 Summer Olympics will come to tokyo at the end of July and beginning of August, and they will capture the attention of the entire world for weeks. "Each Olympiad is a opportunity to showcase the best of the host city and its people," says Condé Nast Traveler travel specialist Amy Tadehara, who works for InsideJapan Tours, a company that has put together several itineraries for Tokyo Olympics. "I am delighted that the world discovers the real japanese omotenashi: a generous spirit of selfless hospitality towards visitors that exceeds any expectation".
Four years have passed since the last Olympic Games in Rio, so, in case you have any doubts, here are the answers to each of the questions What do you have about the sports multi-event?
WHEN ARE THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES?
The Tokyo Olympics will start with the Opening Ceremony on July 24 and will last for two weeks, until August 9.
New National Stadium in Tokyo.
WHERE WILL THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES TAKE PLACE?
The Games will take place in more than 40 venues, most of them in and around Tokyo; some soccer, baseball and softball games will take place outside the metropolitan area. In the capital, The venues will be divided into two areas: the Heritage Zone, in the old infrastructures of the Games held in the city in 1964 and, closer to the water, in the new Tokyo Bay Area.
WHERE IS THE OLYMPIC STADIUM?
The new National Stadium has been built on top of the old stadium in the Heritage Zone, in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, in the gardens of the Meiji Shrine . Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has been in charge of supervising the design, taking inspiration from the temples of the Edo period and working mainly with cedar and larch wood.
HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS FOR THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES?
Currently the price of tickets for individual events fluctuates between €30 – for the preliminary rounds of beach volleyball – up to almost €1,000 –from competitions for athletics medals–; although most have a price that ranges between €90 and €270.
There are packages including accommodation and tickets and sometimes also transportation and VIP passes to the hospitality center. These start at approximately €4,400 and go up to a maximum of €17,000 (per person, based on double occupancy of a hotel room).
There are also other simpler packages that combine a ticket and a pass to the hospitality center for a single test (from €1,000 to €1,500 approximately).
Opening Ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
HOW TO BUY TICKETS FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES?
Tickets went on sale last year and remain available through late spring. Any person who wants to buy them from outside Japan must do so with the authorized distribution company in the country of their residence. In the case of Spain, the official website is https://www.issta.co.il/sport. Today, most of the tickets for individual events through IsstaSport are sold out. Starting this spring, foreigners will also be able to purchase them on the official website of the Tokyo Olympics.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GO TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES?
In summary, much . The cheapest nonstop flights we're looking at from Madrid exceed €900, if you wish to be there for the Opening Ceremony. From Madrid and Barcelona, with a stopover, there are from €700 and €500, respectively.
It is estimated that Tokyo would need about 14,000 more hotel rooms than it has to accommodate the expected 10 million attendees for the Olympics. What is raising the rates, not only in traditional hotels, but also in the most representative of the city, hostels and Airbnbs. Prices double and even quadruple the usual rates.
In a simple search indicating the dates of the week of the Opening Ceremony, one night's accommodation for a single person appeared in four-star hotels from €240; €360 per night for two people.
Park Hyatt Tokyo (Tokyo, in Japan)
WHAT ARE THE NEW SPORTS AT THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES?
The sports that will debut at the Tokyo Games are sport climbing, surfing, skateboarding and karate. **Baseball and softball will return for the first time since Beijing 2008.
WHAT OTHER SPORTS ARE THERE?
These new sports disciplines will arrive to please the crowd, especially fans of gymnastics, tennis and basketball, the three most watched sports in Spain during the Rio 2016 Games. Without forgetting other specialties such as athletics, soccer and volleyball , as well as little pleasures like badminton, canoeing and ping-pong. A total of 33 sports will be present at this year's Games.
HOW MANY COUNTRIES COMPETE IN THE 2020 JJOO?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes 205 countries, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has banned Russia from participating in both the Tokyo Games and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing (Russia is appealing WADA's decision, but the result may not come until late spring) , which might be too late).
Men's basketball final between the United States and Spain during the 2012 London Olympics.
WHERE SHOULD I STAY IN TOKYO DURING THE OLYMPIC GAMES?
Finding a hotel for the Olympic Games is complicated. The IOC has retained many of the rooms for official accommodation, and others they are booked as part of those exclusive packages or by tour operators. Some of our favorites, such as the Aman Tokyo, the Trunk, the Hoshinoya (in the 2020 Gold List of our North American title) or the Shangri-La Hotel Tokio are fully booked for the Games and one week before and one after.
Even the new Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo, which will open its doors in Otemachi in July, has hung the complete poster during the Olympic Games, as advertised on their website. However, as the event draws closer, rooms are being released, which are usually destined mainly for tour operators.
Aman Tokyo hotel swimming pool.
Tadehara's InsideJapan Tours has some five-star rooms that have recently become available, but also **suggests looking beyond Tokyo. **
"Many visitors forget the amazing railway network that Japan has and therefore limit their searches to central Tokyo," he says.
“There are amazing resorts in the countryside, mountains and on the coast that are easy to get to by train from the city. Thanks to the shinkansen, the bullet train, you can sleep far away from Tokyo but comfortably 'glide' into the city center each morning. Not only does this allow you to stay in a nicer property at a cheaper price, but it's a great way to experience different parts of japan and get away from the crowds.”
In Yokohama, for example, just a short 25-minute train ride from Tokyo, Tadehara recommends the Kahala, opening in June and the first sister property to the original in Honolulu, Hawaii. It has availability and, in addition, Yokohama will also host stadiums for Olympic baseball, softball, and soccer games.
Views of Tokyo Bay and Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama's central business district.
WHAT IS THE MASCOT OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES 2020?
It is lovely Miraitowa, a manga-style figure with big ears, giant eyes and dressed in blue and white plaid, whose name is a combination of two Japanese words meaning "future" and "eternity".
HOW CAN I WATCH THE OLYMPIC GAMES IF I AM IN TOKYO WITHOUT TICKETS?
Currently, there are 11 Tokyo 2020 Live Sites planned to be installed in the city during the Games. These collective relay points will have giant screens so that people who do not have tickets for the tests can actively participate in each event. The idea is that they breathe the playful and exciting atmosphere that is felt on the tracks, stadiums and other sports centers.
HOW DO I SEE THE OLYMPIC GAMES FROM SPAIN?
The International Olympic Committee sold for more than 1,000 million in 2015 to Discovery, the owner of Eurosport, all the international rights of the 2020 Summer Olympics. And, although Everything seems to indicate that it will be Radiotelevisión Española Whoever buys them –after the Executive committed to making a budget of between 50 and 60 million euros to acquire the rights and be able to broadcast the Games openly–, the truth is that today the agreement has not yet been closed.
For its part, DAZN, the independent sports streaming payment platform, will broadcast all events, which will be available live and on demand for seven days. Twitter has also announced that it will broadcast the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games online.
HOW DO I APPLY TO BE A VOLUNTEER FOR THE 2020 OLYMPICS?
Unfortunately, the deadline to apply to volunteer for the Tokyo Games** closed more than a year ago,** in December 2018. But the portal to sign up to be a volunteer for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games has only recently been enabled over a month and will not close until the end of June 2021.
*Article originally published in the American version of Condé Nast Traveler.
The Beijing 2020 organization has received more than 600,000 requests to volunteer.