
Links to book
Paperback & Hardcover
Open Access E-Book
Author Interviews
Watch our author interviews on the DIJ YouTube channel
Authors
Complete List of Authors (PDF, 294 KB)
In the media
Sonja Ganseforth on anti-Olympic movements in Japan in German daily taz (11/2020)
Sonja Ganseforth on anti-Olympic activism in Tokyo in AP News and Japan Times articles (11/2020)
Barbara Holthus on postponement of Tokyo Olympics in Danish magazine Idraetsliv (9/2020)
Book added to the Olympic World Library and featured in the latest issue of New releases on Olympism and sport (p. 6)
Barbara Holthus on broken Olympic dreams in German radio Deutschlandfunk Kultur (7/2020)
Barbara Holthus on Japan’s Olympic ambitions for 2021 in Swiss media Blick (7/2020)
Barbara Holthus interviewed on book publication, readme.txt blog (6/2020)
Barbara Holthus on volunteering in German newspaper Rhein Neckar Zeitung (5/2020)
Franz Waldenberger in DLF interview on economic consequences of Tokyo Olympics postponement (5/2020)
Barbara Holthus in DLF podcast on Tokyo Olympics volunteers (5/2020)
Barbara Holthus in The Irish Sun on Tokyo Olympics postponement (3/2020)
Barbara Holthus in JDZB interview on Tokyo Olympics (3/2020)
Franz Waldenberger in ARD podcast Go to Tokyo to go #7 (1/2020)
Barbara Holthus in ARD podcast Go to Tokyo to go #6 (12/2019)
DIJ researchers interviewed by German radio ARD (11/2019)
Events & Presentations
Briefing of Artists (Passagenwerk 2020) for Goethe-Institute Tokyo, Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center (5/2019)
Related Publications
Special project:
Japan through the lens of the Tokyo Olympics
Project duration: 2019-ongoing
This open-access book situates the 2020 Tokyo Olympics within the social, economic and political challenges for Japan. Tokyo 2020 is constructed to embrace diversity and inclusiveness in society, foster sustainability, boost Japan’s economy, improve social cohesion, create a feeling of unity and pride for the country, and increase citizens’ active participation in fostering the well-being of society. This book uses the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a lens onto the city and country, offering hidden insights and new perspectives on city planning, cultural politics, financial issues, language use, security concepts, education, volunteerism and construction work. It explains the many stakeholders, institutions, average citizens, interest groups, and protest groups involved, and features the struggle over Tokyo’s extreme summer heat, food standards, the implementation of diversity in regard to disabilities, sexual minorities and technological innovations. We also give short glimpses of the new Olympic sports and the role of these sports in Japan.
The book is now available in paperback, hardcover and as open access book.
NEW Watch our author interview series featuring fifteen of our authors who introduce their chapters in short videos on the DIJ YouTube channel. They also address the impact of the postponement (and potential cancellation) of Tokyo 2020 on Japan, their chapter topic, and on their research.
“This is the first – and possibly only – book which explains contemporary Japan through the prism of the Olympics and the Olympics through the lens of Japanese society. Full of fascinating insights and information, it is sure to become a bible for anyone intending to attend (or even just watch) the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Definitely a winner.” -- Roger Goodman, University of Oxford“This book is the perfect companion for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Its short, readable chapters by Japan specialists are full of intriguing information about past and present Olympics in Tokyo, and how hosting the Olympic games reshapes the city of Tokyo. [...] Take this book along as you ride the trains and explore the city. It will be valuable long after the last medal has been awarded.” -- Patricia Steinhoff, University of Hawaii,
“This comprehensive collection by experienced Japan researchers offers highly informative and smartly written commentaries on the social, political, and economic ramifications of Tokyo 2020. [...] This is an essential briefing for anyone wishing to know what is at stake as Tokyo hosts this global sporting mega-event.” -- William W. Kelly, Yale University and author of The Sportsworlds of the Hanshin Tigers: Professional Baseball in Modern Japan
“This volume assembles scholars with a broad spectrum of expertise who provide a thorough overview of the key topics surrounding the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Most impressive is that it blends keen analysis of the major issues for Japan with equally keen analysis of the major issues for the Olympic Games. This insightful overview of the intersection of Japan with the Olympics has something for everyone, whether academics, journalists, fans of Olympics or fans of Japan.” -- Susan Brownell, St. Louis University and Author of Beijing Games: What the Olympics Mean to China
“Written by leading experts on Japanese sport and society, this is the perfect guide for anyone – sports fan, tourist, or armchair viewer - wanting to know the inside story about the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tokyo, and Japan in the 21st century.” -- John Horne, Waseda University and author of Understanding the Olympics,
“The 34 chapters cover a wide range of topics—including politics, economy, society, culture, media, cinema, architecture, and, of course, sports—to provide the reader with keen insights into how, in leading up to 2020, Japan is shaping, and being shaped, by the Olympics. An outstanding guide for those seeking to understand contemporary Japan and its future direction.” -- Glen S. Fukushima, Former President, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Understanding Japan through the lens of Tokyo 2020
Barbara Holthus, Isaac Gagné, Wolfram Manzenreiter, Franz Waldenberger - Olympics and the media
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Skateboarding: “F*** the Olympics”
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Political games
Axel Klein - Number games: The economic impact of Tokyo 2020
Franz Waldenberger - Climbing: New sport on the block
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Advertising the Games: Sponsoring a new era
Isaac Gagné - Karate: Bowing to the Olympics in style
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Herculean efforts: What the construction of the Olympic Stadium reveals about working conditions in Japan
Steffen Heinrich - Tokyo 2020 and neighborhood transformation: Reworking the entrepreneurial city
Ralph Lützeler - Ho(s)t city: Tokyo’s fight against the summer heat
Jan Lukas Kuhn - Tokyo’s architecture and urban structure: Change in an ever-changing city
Florian Purkarthofer - Success story: The 1964 Tokyo Olympics
Torsten Weber - San’ya 2020: From building to hosting the Tokyo Olympics
Hanno Jentzsch - Baseball/softball: One more homer for Japan
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Outdoor sports in the periphery: Far from the compact games
Daniel Kremers - Surfing: Taken with a grain of salt
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Tokyo’s 1940 “Phantom Olympics” in public memory: When Japan chose war over the Olympics
Torsten Weber - Upgrading Tokyo’s linguistic infrastructure for the 2020 Games
Peter Backhaus - Sexual minorities and the Olympics
Maki Hirayama - The Paralympic Games: Enabling sports and empowering disability
Katharina Heyer - Sex in the city
Maki Hirayama - Games of Romance? Tokyo in search of love and Unity in Diversity
Nora Kottmann - The 2020 Olympic mascot characters: Japan wants to make a difference
Jan Lukas Kuhn - Olympic education: How Tokyo 2020 shapes body and mind in Japan
Wolfram Manzenreiter - Sex in the Village
Maki Hirayama - Volunteering Japan-style: “Field cast” for the Tokyo Olympics
Barbara Holthus - The difference between zero and one: Voices from the Tokyo anti-Olympic movements
Sonja Ganseforth - Beyond 2020: Post-Olympic pessimism in Japanese cinema
Jan Lukas Kuhn - Tokyo 2020 from the regional sidelines
Isaac Gagné - Olympic leverages: The struggle for sustainable food standards
Sonja Ganseforth - Security for the Tokyo Olympics
Sebastian Polak-Rottmann - The Olympic and Paralympic Games as a technology showcase
Franz Waldenberger - Tokyo 2020: Connecting the past with the future
Round table discussion with Munehiko Harada, John Horne, Wolfram Manzenreiter