What Japan needs for the second successful Summer Olympics

Japan has become the fifth nation in the world that hosts more than two summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Tokyo as the host of the 2012 Olympics over Spain’s Madrid and Turkey’s Istanbul, considering Japan’s fundamentals and its political and economic safety. It is welcome news to Japanese people who suffered the “bubble burst” in the early 1990s and subsequent economic downturn, the great earthquakes and the nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011.

Japan has many challenges ahead, however, to make the international sports event successful. The world is concerned about radioactive contamination in Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, “Some are concerned about the accident in Fukushima but we guarantee safety.” Radioactive contamination, however, does not disappear in a year or two. Japan has seven years until the 2020 Olympics but the concern over radiation could further aggravate without Japan’s proper actions. Japan should mobilize its economic and scientific prowess to enable the world to enjoy the international sporting event without fear.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe reconfirmed that he would better relationships with Korea and China but this is not enough. Chinese President Xi Jinping said to the Japanese prime minister at the G20 Summit on Thursday, “See history right.” Korean President Park Geun-hye mentioned German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s speech at Dachau, a Nazi camp, and said, “Japan could see history and hopefully develop future-oriented relationships.” Abe should not go in the opposite direction to become a loner in Northeast Asia.

Abe will face backlashes at home and abroad if he leans towards extreme right without caring for his neighboring countries being intoxicated by the successful hosting of the Olympics. Making peace with its neighboring countries in history, human rights and territorial issues is in line with the spirit of the Olympics.

The U.S., the U.K., and France hosted summer Olympics more than twice except for Greece, the origin of the international event. If Korea can host another Summer Olympics following the 1998 Seoul Olympics, Koreans must have a higher sense of pride. As Tokyo hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics following the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Busan has difficulties in attracting the 2024 or 2028 Summer Olympics. If the city learns success cases of Japan and Tokyo, which have achieved their goal after a repeated failure, it will find a way.