[Excerpt translation from Japanese to English provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Construction of new National Stadium leads to evictions, those whose lives were destroyed ask, 'Is there no accountability in the Olympics?'", 9 Jan 2020

“We won’t forget about all the people whose lives were destroyed.” 

It is the afternoon of December 21, 2019—day of the opening ceremony for the National Stadium. On the sidewalk in front of the stadium, …Ichimura Masako…, a member of the civilian organization, Association Against Olympics, was shouting. She was passing out flyers detailing problems with the Olympics to those lined up to enter the National Stadium. However, few took the flyers from her.

As buildings, including the National Stadium, are redeveloped, the homeless residing in Meiji Park have lost a place where they can live. Public housing complexes have also been destroyed to make space for storing construction materials for the Olympics, with about 230 households evicted from their homes. For the elderly who have supported each other in the public housing complexes, the evictions are a matter a life and death. Ichimura harbors the feeling that “problems are overlooked because it’s the Olympics.”

…[T]he Olympics pose a danger of tipping towards a one-sided, totalitarian approach by excluding minority opinions.…

A decision made without consent. Suddenly citing heat wave measures, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) used its power to switch the site of the Olympics marathon and walking race in Tokyo to Sapporo. “We never said that we would discuss this decision.” The remark—made by IOC Coordination Commission Chair [John] Coates at a meeting with IOC, the Tokyo government, and the Olympic Organizing Committee last November—has embodied every decision about the Olympics…

 “The Olympics are fanning the celebratory mood and large scale of the event to shut down various voices. As a national event, what, then, is the Olympics?”…