General – The 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo will largely take place in two zones. Eight of the 42 competition venues have been newly built.
At the center of the games in Japan’s capital is the national stadium, which is located in the Shinjuku district. This was built on the ground of the Olympic Stadium from 1964 and opened in December 2019. The stadium, which can seat 68,000 spectators, was designed by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and is embedded in a park landscape. The construction is said to have cost around 1.3 billion francs. In addition to the opening and closing ceremonies, the national stadium also hosts athletics competitions and football games.
The “Heritage Zone” also includes the Nippon Budokan, which is considered the center of the Asian martial arts. The Budokan, which consists of three octagonal halls, was built for the Games in 1964, when judo celebrated its Olympic premiere. International music greats such as the Beatles and Bob Dylan have also performed there. In 2021, in addition to the judo, the karate competitions, which are Olympic for the first time, will take place.
The “Tokyo Bay Zone” includes 16 competition venues as well as the international broadcast and media center. One of eight new buildings is the Tokyo Aquatics Center. The 160 m long and 130 m wide arena will be available to the people of Tokyo as a public swimming pool after the games.
On the border of the two zones is the Olympic Village, which is located on an artificial island. Two smaller villages are located in the southwest of Tokyo in Enoshima, where the sailing competitions take place, and in Izu City, the venue for the bike (road and rail) and mountain bike competitions. The Yokohama Stadium is also outside the two zones. The largest venue for these games holds 72,000 spectators and was the venue for the finals of the Soccer World Cup in 2002 and the finals of the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
The two marathons and the walking competitions take place in Sapporo for climatic reasons. The city, located a good 1000 kilometers north of Tokyo on the island of Hokkaido, was the venue for the 1972 Winter Olympics. Football and baseball / softball games are also held in other Japanese cities.
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