You can read more info about their win here.

Memorabilia from 1964 Olympics

This is the 1964 Olympic Lantern which is housed today at the Edo Museum in Tokyo. For more details on this museum and to view the lantern click to this guide.

The official Tokyo 2016 Candidate City badge and logo

Many people have seen or heard about the lifesize Gundam RX78 model that has been built at Odaiba, Tokyo.

Recently, Gundam has been seen sporting a Tokyo 2016 Candidate City Bid sticker on his left shoulder.

Gundam standing guard over Odaiba

As the clock counts down to the Bid decision, Gundam watches over Odaiba, which is planned to host the Beach Volleyball events at the 2016 Tokyo Games.

More Information

• Lifesize Gundam model at Odaiba (sunset)
• Gundam Wedding at Odaiba

This is a great video that catches part of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic 1964 games, as the athletes make their way into the Olympic Stadium.

The Bid For 2016

In contrast, this video promoting the Tokyo Olympic bid for the 2016 games shows just how much the world has moved on in the last 45 years and how technology, one of the promotional points for the Tokyo bid, has advanced at an incredible rate during this period. This video highlights, at least in my opinion, some of the traditional and cultural aspects of this city that co-exist with the high tech and modern sides of Tokyo.

Dr Ichiro Kono, Chair and CEO of Tokyo 2016 had this to say in the Press Release,

In setting the stage for heroes, Tokyo 2016 is utilising cutting-edge technology of all forms – from innovative communications to renewable energy and clean transport – as we prepare to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in one of the world’s most dynamic cities. It is greatly satisfying to see Bid supporters at grassroots level and from diverse backgrounds using their expertise for the same purpose. Together, we can help to unite the world with the Olympic Movement.

Thank you to all supporters of this Site and the Tokyo 2016 Bid. We are looking forward to bringing you highlights and stories detailing the road to the Bid, and some great historical moments in Japan’s Olympic history.

For more information on the official Tokyo 2016 Site click here.

Hammer throwing runs in the Murofushi family – Shigenobu Murofushi, Koji’s father, held the Japanese hammer throw record record for 23 years until it was broken by his son.

It’s fun to watch Koji Murofushi toss the hammer!  He was a winner of the gold medal at the 2004 Games in Athens and a bronze medal at the 2008 games in Beijing.  I suspect he will probably be retired by the 2016 Olympic games but it’s great to see his continue success in elite competition.

Read other highlights of the National Championships in The Japan Times.

Image Credit:  Flickr, 北京オリンピック Beijing Olympic

Here are a few of my favorites from the Tokyo exhibit:

The flags of the participating countries with the country names written in katakana.

A runner in the Olympic torch relay is featured the left and the Olympic Flag makes a prominent appearance on the right.

More Olympic etegami – the one on the left features Tokyo Tower one of the city’s iconic landmarks.

On the left is an Olympic gymnast on the high-bars and is one of my favorite olympic etegami.

"Etegami is a Japanese folk art consisting of simple hand-painted drawings accompanied by a few apt words, and they are almost always done on postcards for quick and easy mailing."

The beauty and talent on display in these etegami created in support of the Tokyo 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee made quite an impact and combined the popularity of the Olympics with the grass-roots popularity of this rustic Japanese folk art.

Read more about the Japanese Folk At of Etegami in a guest post by Deborah Davidson on The Nihon Sun, Deborah is a Hokkaido-based translator and Etegami artist, who writes about etegami and shares some of her lovely work on her website, dosankodebbie’s etegami notebook.

Image Credit:  Shane Sakata, Personal Collection

Official Hello Kitty Tokyo 2016 Goods

While you are waiting for the Games, you might want to pick up some Bid merchandise which includes this item for Hello Kitty fans.

You can find this item and others at the following locations:

• 1st Floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Bldg, Shinjuku
• Kishu Memorial Gymnasium (Athlete Japan Square)
• 2nd Floor entrance hall of Tokyo Big Site (at service corner)
• Edo Tokyo Museum
• Haneda Airport (Pier 1, Pier 4 and Airport-mart East)
• Tokyo Miyage Center (Tokyo station, Yeasu underground)
• JOC Official Shop on Yahoo (Japanese only)

Then prime minister, Nobusuke Kishi “led the nation in expressing great pleasure and elation over the International Olympic Committee’s selection of the Japanese capital as the site of the 18th Olympiad.” and went on to say that it was “a great opportunity for the Japanese people to demonstrate their love of sports and their attitude of respect for sportsmanship to the world.”

Former Japanese Olympians also eagerly hailed the decision and Yoshiyuki Tsuruta (pictured on the right), winner of the breaststroke at the Amsterdam and Los Angeles Olympics (in 1928 and 1932), regarded the selection of Tokyo as stemming from international recognition that Japan is now a leading sports nation.

I’m sure the elation of the nation will be no less should Tokyo be chosen as the site for the 2016 Olympic games in less than 100 days.

Image Credit: Flickr, Japan Blue & Wikimedia, Yoshiyuki Tsuruta 1928