Poster for the Committee on Tourism Industry by the Ministry of Railways in 1937 , designed by Hiromu Hara
The Olympics pose interesting polemics to the host city and country.
Depending on one's perspective, the quadrennial mega-event can be a catalytic apotheosis or a Promethean burden. The truth, however, is paradoxically both and neither at the same time. The two week period is in reality suspended above years of lobbying and preparation beforehand, and decades of development afterward to truly see the effects of the urban promises.
However, this piece is not conceived to judge the merits of such a global event, or about taking any positions on the ongoing drama of the 2020/1 Tokyo Olympics. We have no intention of plunging ourselves into the slippery discourse of money, national pride, and political obduracy[1]. Rather, this short rumination is to reflect on the parallels with the 1940 Tokyo Olympics, and what we can perhaps contrive to be productive.
1940 Summer Olympics, or the Games of the XII Olympiad, was surprisingly awarded to Tokyo in 1936. Surprising, because Japan was the first non-Western country ever to be selected to host, and the timing was peculiar considering the invasion of Manchuria and withdrawal from the League of Nations[2]. Some say it was a concerted effect to solidify Japan’s international standing[3]. Let us zoom out and see from a larger temporal and territorial context. The idea for the 1940 Olympiad also came after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which devastated much of Tokyo and surrounding areas. Though the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake affected a different region of Japan, both natural disasters and recovery efforts thereafter posed insurmountable challenges to the governance and economy. It is interesting that both Olympiads sought to stimulate tourist industry[4], as if it was a silver bullet to the economic woes of the lagging post-disaster reconstruction and recovery.
The period leading up to the mirage of 1940 Summer Olympics was also marred in the political chaos with increasing militarization and various coups, such as the May 15 (1932) Incident. Globally, the Great Depression was wreaking havoc and destabilizing the basic social fabric in many parts of the world. (We saw many social and cultural norms turned upside-down by the advent of Covid-19, and economic repercussions will surely be felt for many years to come.)
We can all agree that past and contemporary historical currents are important factors, and that we can learn from past lessons. If the cancellation of the first Tokyo Olympics (1940) and the triumphant reemergence of the second a quarter-century later (1964) are symbols of first regret and second rebirth, then can the third perhaps be considered one of reckoning? Deferred to the 1964 Summer Olympics, the XVIII Olympiad, the first Asian host city was to wait 24 years and 6 cycles after it was vested to finally welcome the torch flame from Greece that would light the sacred cauldron[5] in the sublime stadium designed by Kenzo Tange. Whatever the outcome of the 2020/1 Summer Olympics may be, we hope enough redundancies, inequity, and single-mindedness has been exposed such that we can begin the process of reimagining a diverse humane society for all that is more effective, equal, and transparent. Let us imagine how we can use the investments of the present architecture, urban and infrastructural interventions in the span of over 30 years time. Perhaps that is when these structures will finally, truly, and fully, embody its highest potential. May we learn from history such that we avoid repeating the inconvenient truths.
Photo Credit:
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built by Kenzo Tange, Credit: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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Continuing in the aforementioned spirit of shared experiences in finding an imperfect manifesto from an ever-incomplete city – through a meandering path of connecting topical dots to dissect, expand, and opportunistically theorize upon – please choose one subject from the following three. We will explore it in next month’s issue.
Topic 01：Reasons to Run the Kaido Trails
Topic 02：Demystifying “Creative Destruction"
Topic 03：Spiraling Landscape
English Writing: Kaz Yoneda
Peer Reader: Gregory Serweta
Editor: Hinako Izuhara
Associate: Tatsuri Sonobe
References:
[3] Sandra Collins, “The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics: Japan, the Asian Olympics and the Olympic Movement.”