Will the Tokyo Olympics pay off?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 23 July 2021
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Japanese businesses are struggling with the lack of tourists during the Tokyo Olympics. Despite delaying the games by a year, the authorities have still been forced to hold the games without spectators, as Covid cases rise. Seijiro Takeshita at the University of Shizuoka explains why the Japanese were hoping for a successful Olympics, and why it’s now become so controversial. Also in the programme, we’ll hear from a number of businesses affected by the lack of tourists. And Yoko Ishikura, Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University, describes how big sponsors have resisted pressure from the Tokyo government not to withdraw support for the games.
(Picture: The logo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Picture credit: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Rebecca Kesby. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. Today, when car giant Toyota pulled its Tokyo Olympic sponsorship ads in Japan, they said they were following public concern over COVID. |
| 0:16.1 | I personally think it's a very good thing that we're getting a lot more freedom. Organizations do not have to |
| 0:22.3 | necessarily abide totally, blindfoldly, to the government's will. Big business may be showing its |
| 0:29.4 | muscle, but many smaller companies are missing out on cashing in on what should be a tourist boom. |
| 0:35.5 | There are a lot of excess hotel rooms. |
| 0:38.7 | So the hotel price is actually just going down by 30% in the last, you know, a couple weeks. |
| 0:44.2 | Yeah, it's a very, you know, tough time. |
| 0:46.8 | The cost of COVID hits the Olympics. |
| 0:50.2 | That's coming up on Business Daily. |
| 0:55.9 | The International Olympic Committee |
| 0:58.5 | has the honour of announcing that the games of the 32nd Olympiad in 2020 |
| 1:04.2 | are awarded to the city of Tokyo. |
| 1:16.0 | Japan has asked the Olympic Games to be postponed for a year. |
| 1:20.8 | 100 days to go before the opening ceremony. |
| 1:23.5 | The organizers insist it's full steam ahead, but public support in Japan remains. |
| 1:27.7 | It's just days before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, |
| 1:30.8 | and a growing number of athletes and officials have tested COVID-positive. |
| 1:35.0 | All buildup continues to be dominated by two questions. |
| 1:38.4 | Will they go ahead and should they go ahead? |
| 1:41.8 | One year late, the Tokyo Olympics are finally here. |
| 1:45.6 | Well, at least they were at the time of recording. |
| 1:48.6 | Besieged by some of the most complicated problems ever faced by an Olympic committee, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.