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2015 June 17 - 23 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Civic group pushes gov’t to abandon construction plan of gigantic Olympic Stadium

June 18, 2015
A civil group seeking an eco-friendly Olympics published a proposal on June 16 urging the central government to start again at square one its plan to construct a national athletic stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

The citizens’ group, “the Custodians of the National Stadium”, sent this proposal to the sports minister and Japan Sport Council (JSC), an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

At a news conference on that day, Mori Mayumi, co-representative of the civic group, referred to the fact that in May, Japan’s Sports Minister Shimomura Hakubun abruptly announced a revised plan to build the Olympic arena. “We made this urgent proposal as the construction plan is moving ahead,” she said.

Their written opinion notes that the revised project still has many “fatal flaws” in terms of the construction period, required building techniques, expected impact on the environment, and the costs of construction and maintenance. It demands that the state authorities draw up an alternative plan following the model of the dismantled national stadium, after listening carefully to local residents and the people concerned with athletic sports.

At an open study meeting following the press conference, architecture economist Moriyama Takashi explained in detail about the problems pertaining to the ministry-designed project.

Moriyama pointed out that from an architectural viewpoint it is impossible to support the huge arched steel frames of the arena’s retractable roof. He went on to stress that if an orthodox athletic stadium is built, the building costs and construction time will be reduced significantly.

Noting that neither the ministry nor JSC fully understand the technical problems associated with the project, Moriyama underscored the urgent need for the administration to revise its plan.

Past related article:
> National stadium construction may not be finished by 2020 Tokyo Olympics [May 19&20, 2015]
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