Atomic Games
January 20, 2010
Osaka
Reader Contribution
Edited by James M. Kelly
2020 summer Olympics Bid by Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two cities which bore the brunt of the American atom bombs, wish to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. This announcement came just a week after Tokyo’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics was rejected. Rio de Janeiro won the bid for the same.
The proposal to host the Olympics has been put forward by the mayors of these two cities. In a press conference, which was also attended by the Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba said ‘‘The Olympics symbolizes the abolition of nuclear arms and world peace, and we want to work to realize our plan to host it. By jointly hosting it, we will be able to propose a new path for the Olympics, which have been hosted single-handedly by a large city”.
Taue also added that ‘‘It will be a new challenge for the atomic-bombed cities.’’
A joint committee will be formed to invite the Olympics to their cities. Akiba has also made plans to let his proposals known to the Japanese Olympics Committee and the Government.
In an international peace meeting held in Mexico City, Akiba had let the world know of his hope to see a nuclear weapons free world by 2020 and to celebrate the herald of a new era by hosting the Olympics in their cities.
The Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda praised the two cities to have come up with such an admirable concept but also stated “we have to analyze the Olympic charter” as only one city only is allowed from each country to bid. He also stated that “we have to look at Tokyo’s failed bid first and assess whether a candidate can win a bid for 2020”
The response to the announcement drew varied reactions from different people. People like Sunao Tsuboi, head of Nihon Hidankyo or Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Suffers Organization are in approval of the move while other A-bomb survivors were not so generous. They questioned the credibility of hosting such a big scale event which would drain the resources of these cities.
