The Olympic countdown clock hits 21 days

Alongside the clock are some great drawings that have been done by Japanese kids. It looks like they have had some wonderful dreams of watching and maybe participating in the Olympic/Paralympic Games.

21 days to go and counting …

This shot was submitted to the Tokyo2016 flickr group and shows great teamwork!

Rafting Together for Tokyo2016

Tokyo Tower is a popular symbol for the city.

It was built in 1958, just six years prior to the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. And is painted white and international orange to comply with air saftey regulations and every five years undergoes a painting makeover.

Tokyo2016Today

Support for Tokyo2016 is well demonstrated in the continuing stream of photos added to the photo blog on flickr. It is a great group with some fantastic shots!

This week’s editor’s top pick award goes to the following five ! These are ‘The Flickr Five.’ Excellent work guys!

1. Kicking off this weeks top pic is a marvellous piece of calligraphy by shibuya246 taken at the soccer. Cool colours! Cool capture!

Calligraphy

2. Next is a great action shot of a local resident putting up street banners to support Tokyo 2016.

Thanks to kurokoshiroko It is wonderful to see the hardwork in preparing for a bid like this captured in this way.

Launching support for Tokyo 2016

3. Third in the list of ‘Flickr Five’, is an amazing ice sculpture highlighting some impressive athletes in large snow carvings. The Snow Festival in Hokkaido has really thought this display out well.

Thanks to mattwestacott

Great photo by Andrea, Feb 2009

4. This particular photo shows attention to detail and was taken in the observatory at the top of the Tokyo Tower.

Thanks to Michal Trnka

Wishes Tokyo 2016

5. Finally, this drawing for 2016 from a young school child shows support via a school art campaign.

It would be great to see more art work like this being photographed and submitted. Thanks to the_blue for showing this child’s wish.

More Olympic Wishes

The most successful R&B group shared their thoughts in a letter to the Tokyo 2016 Bid Committee on the eve of a series of Japan performances.

“Tokyo is a city we have been fortunate enough to have performed in since 1993. It is a multicultural place full of friendly faces, and we know it is also somewhere our fellow entertainers love to come. From its cutting-edge technology to its people’s hospitality and passion for sport, Tokyo is the perfect stage for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

In R&B legends Boyz II Men add their voice to support for Tokyo 2016 the group goes on to share that singing “The Star Spangled Banner” during the closing ceremony of the Atlanta Games in 1996 was one of the most fulfilling experiences of their career and lives.

Boy II Men will perform at the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka on July 28 & 29, the Nagoya Congress Center Century Hall on August 1st and at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall on August 4th.

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xman/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

_{Picture taken at one of the groups earlier events held in May 2007. Image reproduced from The Student Association Blog}

Calling themselves The Student Association for the 2016 Tokyo Olympics, they have been working hard in a variety of ways to bring the games to Tokyo. Here are some of the things they’ve been doing:

• Hosting and organizing symposium events
• Gathering signatures of support and getting feedback via questionnaires
• Holding activities to spread the word about the Olympic bid

The opening symposium announcing their support was held in February 2006 which has been followed by a number of events which you can read about on their Tokyo Olympics events history page.

Check out their graffiti webtile board at the bottom of the homepage. A very neat way of showing all the people who have pledged their support for the bid. Great work!

Kappa (”river child” in English) are popular creatures in Japanese folklore and can be found in the ponds, rivers and lakes throughout Japan.   These mythical creatures are amphibious and can survive on land but their fish-like features give them the ability to swim like fish in the water.

While kappa are usually seen as mischievous troublemakers, they have been known to challenge those they encounter to various tests of skill, such as shogi or sumo wrestling.

I wonder if this kappa is lobbying for a spot on the Tokyo2016 Olympic swimming team?  He’d be hard to beat!

This was captured and sent in by t-miki. It is a really classic shot highlighting the 2016 message in Tokyo.

Amazing 2016 in B&W

This was added by Kevin Tierney with the title Omega Building. It is a photo of strength and determination, lit up by marvellous Olympic colours.

Great support, Great race

Green Tokyo and Gundam

This photo is subtle in its message but look down the street and each lampost has the sign posted to support 2016. Good shot oda.shinsuke.

Spot the sign

Top flickr five award goes to a photo from takeratta(tm).

2016 Tokyo Banner on Tokyo Met Building

Running with Takahashi were other famous faces including Kenji Kimihara, who won a silver medal at the Mexico games in 1968 and Yasutaro Matsuki, the former international footballer and coach.

Besides the celebrity element there was also a lucky group of 19 runners who had entered and won a public raffle to participate in the race. Each runner teamed up with one or two of the famous athletes to run one of the stages of the relay before handing on the baton to the next team.

This was an exciting day for the runners and the Tokyoites who came out in support of the race. Naoko Takahashi will be running another Tokyo Bid Support Relay race on July 12. Come along and cheer if you’re near the venue at Komazawa Park.

Running with their Olympic torches

I was invited to an event held at the Fukuda kindergarten (福田幼稚園) in Hatagaya, Shibuya, over the weekend and attended with Shane Sakata from The Nihon Sun, a blog with great information on Japan travel.

The kindergarten was established in the year Showa 24 (昭和２４年) or 1949 and has a great history including at one time having its own farm (牧場) with cows where the kids could take a cup and get their daily fresh milk straight from the source.

It is hard to imagine today that cows might still be roaming around Shibuya ward.

some of the historical photos of Fukuda Kindergarten

The event at the kindergarten was to celebrate the participation of Tokyo as a bidding city for the 2016 Olympics.

Olympic torches at the ready for the big event

Among those attending were Yoshinori Sakai, who was the torch bearer for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the time, Sakai-san was a 19 year old Waseda student. Having been born in Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 Sakai-san had experienced first hand the devastation caused by war, and then grew up during the rapid economic rebuilding period.

Yoshinori Sakai leads the runners into the kindergarten

The event included a relay by the children, a trampoline performance by Yasuhiro Ueyama (2006 trampoline world champion), the planting of a tree, and speeches.

Sakai-san lights the torches for the kids

A message from the children of Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics

It was great to see the children being made a central part of the event. Although their were some official speeches made and Tokyo2016 was an important theme, the event revolved around the participation of the kids. If Tokyo wins its bid to hold the Games in 2016, these children will be in school playing a variety of sports and perhaps dreaming of one day themselves representing Japan at Olympic level.

The kids really enjoyed the relay event

anchor runners for the relay

Waiting for their turn to take part

The kids were patient during the speeches and seem to appreciate the message delivered by Sakai-san.

Official speeches, Ueyama-san in middle, Sakai-san on right

kids listening intently to the speeches. Parents looking on

To the kids delight, Sakai-san handed them the official Olympic torch. They all took turns at holding it, and had some of the kindergarten staff looking on a bit worried as to what might happen if it broke.

Sakai-san hands the kids the official Olympic torch

Future Olympian in the making. Hold the torch high!

Getting in position for the photos. Nice colored hats

Commemorative photo for all participants

The trampoline event was a highlight for the kids. They got to see some high jumps, back flips, and tumble turns on display before trying some small jumps themselves on the trampoline named “EuroTramp”.

Don't try this at home kids

I wasn't volunteering to take part in this display

This girls delight at the trampoline was great. Just like watching the Olympics for the first time

Some of the kids get a go. not quite as high with those jumps

Onlookers enjoying the trampoline display

Some good Olympic spirit here

Following the relay and trampoline, a tree was planted to mark the occasion. The kids loved the digging for the tree and were a bit disappointed that they didn’t have to make a bigger hole.

digging the hole

The teacher makes sure things are going ok for the tree planting

A quick snapshot to commemorate the event

In the official interview after the events Sakai-san talked about his memories of the 1964 Games saying that all of Japan had come together to show the world how Japan had succeeded in its economic development, and to promote the message of peace.

Interview of athletes and children

The children stole the show talking about their enjoyment of the day and what type of athlete they would like to be in the future.

Giving their views on the Games

A great combination with these three. Very amusing interview

The Fukuda kindergarten was kind enough to give me some souvenirs of the trip, including a copy of their 50th anniversary guide book and a CD produced for the kindergarten with songs written by the Principal. Thank you.

Some souvenirs from Fukuda Kindergarten

I am sure these children will remember the day that the Olympics came to their local kindergarten in Hatagaya. If they are lucky, in 7 years time they may be sitting in a stadium in central Tokyo cheering for their nations athletes competing in the Tokyo2016 Olympic Games.

Tokyo2016 Information
The date to announce the successful bid city will be held by the IOC in Copenhagen, Denmark on 2 October 2009.

The official site for the Tokyo2016 Bid campaign contains a lot more information about the Games.

Here is a promotional video for the Tokyo2016 Games Bid.