A number of concerns and controversies arose leading up to the 2020 Summer Olympics, which took place in Tokyo, Japan. The games were postponed until July 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The IOC stated that their Japanese partners and the former prime minister Shinzo Abe "made it very clear" in 2020, "that Japan could not manage a postponement beyond next summer at the latest". Just weeks before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, honorary patron Emperor Naruhito was said to be "extremely worried about the current status of coronavirus infections", and was "concerned that while there [were] voices of anxiety among the public, the holding (of the events) may lead to the expansion of infections".
There were allegations of bribery in the Japanese Olympic Committee's (JOC) bid for the games, of plagiarism in the initial design for the games' logo, and of illegal overwork of laborers on the part of dozens of companies involved in construction for the games. Notable safety concerns for athletes included radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, water quality, and record heat levels. Political controversies included the use of maps showing disputed territories as part of Japan, and a refusal to ban the Rising Sun Flag at Olympic venues.
Organisational issues and controversies
Bribery and corruption In January 2016, the second part of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission report into corruption included a footnote detailing a conversation between Khalil Diack, son of former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack, and Turkish officials from the Istanbul bid team. A transcript of the conversation cited in the report suggested that a "sponsorship" payment of between US$4 and 5 million had been made by the Japanese bid team "either to the Diamond League or IAAF". The footnote claimed that because Istanbul did not make such a payment, the bid lost the support of Lamine Diack. The WADA declined to investigate the claim because it was, according to its independent commission, outside the agency's remit.
In July and October 2013 (prior to, and after, being awarded the Games), Tokyo made two bank payments totaling to a Singapore-based company known as Black Tidings. The company is tied to Papa Massata Diack, a son of Lamine Diack, who worked as a marketing consultant for the IAAF, and is being pursued by French authorities under allegations of bribery, corruption, and money laundering. Black Tidings is held by Ian Tan Tong Han, a consultant to Athletics Management and Services—which manages the IAAF's commercial rights and has business relationships with Japanese firm Dentsu. Black Tidings has also been connected to a doping scandal involving the Russian athletics team.
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and Tokyo 2020 board member Tsunekazu Takeda stated that the payments were for consulting services, but refused to discuss the matter further because it was confidential. Toshiaki Endo called on Takeda to publicly discuss the matter. Massata Diack denied that he had received any money from Tokyo's organising committee. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) named a team to investigate these matters, and will closely follow the French investigation.
Reuters reported in 2020 that records from the JOC-commissioned investigation, including interview transcripts, were not provided to French prosecutors. According to Reuters, the JOC said it was not able to share the materials with French investigators.
In January 2019, a source revealed that Takeda was being formally investigated over alleged corruption. On 19 March 2019, Takeda resigned from the JOC.
In November 2019, it was reported that the Tokyo Olympic bid committee's accounting documents, detailing over 900 million yen (≈ million US$) spent on overseas consultancy firms for Tokyo's 2020 Olympics hosting bid, were missing.
In September 2020, the FinCEN Files revealed how payments had been made to the son of an influential IOC member in relation to winning the bid for the Olympic Games.
In 2020, Reuters reported that former Dentsu executive Haruyuki Takahashi had received more than US$8 million from the Tokyo bid committee and said his work included lobbying IOC members, including Lamine Diack. IOC president Thomas Bach later said that the IOC had received confirmation that the payments did not infringe IOC rules.
On 7 June 2021, Moriya Yasushi, the accounting manager of JOC, committed suicide. There was no suicide note and the motive for his suicide is unknown.
Six companies have been indicted on charges of bid-rigging for contracts connected to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The parties include Dentsu, Hakuhodo, and four other Japanese companies. The companies have also had a complaint filed against them by Japan's Fair Trade Commission.
Olympic sponsorship contract scandals Several Japanese business executives and employees were arrested between August and October 2022 on suspicion of bribery. Former Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics executive board member Haruyuki Takahashi was arrested on four separate occasions within that period of time after allegedly receiving money from several businesses in exchange for facilitating Olympic sponsorship contracts.
Takahashi, a former senior managing director at Dentsu, was first arrested on 17 August 2022 when prosecutors alleged he received ¥51 million from individuals tied to Japanese men's clothing retailer Aoki in exchange for preferential treatment for sponsorship contracts. Three others, including former Aoki chairman Hironori Aoki and his brother Takahisa Aoki, were arrested and later admitted to charges that they gave ¥28 million to Takahashi.
On 6 September 2022, Takahashi was served a fresh arrest warrant for allegedly accepting ¥76 million (adjusted to ¥69 million under Japan's statute of limitations) through his consulting firm from Japanese publisher Kadokawa Corporation in exchange for Kadokawa being named an official Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics sponsor. Three current and former Kadokawa employees, including chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, were later arrested. Kadokawa announced his intention to step down as his company's chairman following his indictment.
On 26 September 2022, Takahashi was arrested for the third time on allegations that he and an acquaintance received ¥15 million from Osaka-based Daiko Advertising. In return, the organizing committee was asked to use Daiko as an agent for a major English language school operator in Japan which eventually became an official Tokyo Olympics sponsor. A corporate executive for Daiko was also arrested on bribery charges.
Takahashi was arrested for the fourth time on 19 October 2022 for allegedly accepting ¥7 million in bribes from stuffed toy company Sun Arrow–which provided merchandise for the Olympics and Paralympics including stuffed toy renditions of mascots Miraitowa and Someity–and ¥47 million from advertising firm ADK Holdings. Three others, including the president of ADK, were also arrested. The following month, ADK reported to the Japan Fair Trade Commission that they had engaged in bid rigging for the rights to organize Olympic test events.
Takahashi was released on bail on 26 December 2022, more than four months after his initial arrest, after the Tokyo District Court concluded that he did not pose a flight risk and would not destroy evidence.
On 28 February 2023 prosecutors formally indicted Dentsu, rival ad agency Hakuhodo and four other companies on suspicion of rigging bids for Olympic contracts worth approximately ¥43.7 billion, a few days after Dentsu admitted to bid-rigging in voluntary questioning. The companies allegedly colluded with Yasuo Mori, a former operations executive on the organising committee, who was also indicted.
As of February 2023 a total of 22 individuals had been indicted on bribery and bid-rigging charges related to the 2020 Games. In October 2023, the Japanese Olympic Committee officially withdrew Sapporo from consideration to host the 2030 Winter Olympics, citing a lack of support from Japanese citizens in the wake of the corruption issues.
Logo plagiarism
The initial designs for the official emblems of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled on 24 July 2015 (five years ahead to the originally scheduled opening ceremony). The logo resembled a stylised "T": a red circle in the top-right corner representing a beating heart, the flag of Japan, and "an inclusive world in which everyone accepts each other"; and a dark grey column in the centre representing diversity. The Paralympic emblem inverted the light and dark columns of the pattern to resemble an equal sign.
Shortly after the unveiling, Belgian graphics designer Olivier Debie accused the organising committee of plagiarising a logo he had designed for the Théâtre de Liège, which, aside from the circle, consisted of nearly identical shapes. Tokyo's organising committee denied that the emblem design was plagiarised, arguing that the design had gone through "long, extensive and international" intellectual property examinations before it was cleared for use. Debie filed a lawsuit against the IOC to prevent use of the infringing logo.
The Tokyo emblem's designer, Kenjirō Sano, defended the design, stating that he had never seen the Liège logo, while the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) released an early sketch of the design that emphasised a stylised "T" and did not resemble the Liège logo. However, Sano was found to have had a history of plagiarism allegations, with others alleging his early design plagiarised work of Jan Tschichold, and that he used a photo without permission in promotional materials for the emblem, along with other past cases. On 1 September 2015, following an emergency meeting of TOCOG, the Governor of Tokyo Yōichi Masuzoe announced that they had decided to scrap Sano's two logos. The committee met the following day to develop a new logo design.
On 24 November 2015, an Emblems Selection Committee was established to organize an open call for design proposals, open to Japanese residents over the age of 18, with a deadline set for 7 December 2015. The winner would receive million and tickets to the opening ceremonies of both the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. On 8 April 2016, a new shortlist of four pairs of designs for Olympic and Paralympic emblems were unveiled by the Emblems Selection Committee; the committee's selection—with input from a public poll—was presented to TOCOG on 25 April 2016 for final approval.
The new emblems for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled on 25 April 2016. Designed by Asao Tokolo, winner of the nationwide design contest, the emblems take the form of a ring in an indigo-colored checkerboard pattern. The design is meant to "express a refined elegance and sophistication that exemplifies Japan".
Stadium design plagiarism
After Tokyo submitted their bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics, there was talk of possibly renovating or reconstructing the National Olympic Stadium. The stadium would host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as track and field events.
In February 2012, it was confirmed that the stadium would be demolished and reconstructed, and receive a £1 billion upgrade. In November 2012, renderings of the new national stadium were revealed, based on a design by British architect Zaha Hadid. The stadium was demolished in 2015 and the new one was originally scheduled to be completed in March 2019. The new stadium would be the venue for athletics, rugby, some football games, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics.