The Olympics are about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.
On Saturday, Tokyo, Japan, defeated Istanbul for the right to host the 2020 Olympics, even after concerns that the lingering affects of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster would cause contamination and safety concerns for athletes and spectators.
“Tokyo can be trusted to be the safe pair of hands and much more,” bid leader and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda said in the final presentation. “Our case today is simple. Vote for Tokyo and you vote for guaranteed delivery. … Tokyo is the right partner at the right time.”
Tokyo had been on the defensive in the final days of the campaign because of mounting concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
In the final presentation, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave the IOC assurances that the Fukushima leak was not a threat to Tokyo and took personal responsibility for keeping the games safe.
“Let me assure you the situation is under control,” Abe said. “It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.” (via AP)
Of course, this is a severe, hilarious red flag for anyone who has ever seen the classic 1988 anime Akira. In the film, Japan is set to host the 2020 Olympics (seriously) several years after an explosion destroyed Tokyo (seriously). At the time, that was in reference to the last time Japan hosted the games back in 1964, when the fallout from World War II was still fresh but the atomic bombing of Hiroshima had been more or less mind-wiped from the memories of the Japanese. Now it’s just eerily-prescient, and can replace “Chicago wins the World Series in 2015 in Back To The Future II” as our Nostradamus 80s movie prediction of choice.
I won’t spoil the film if you haven’t seen it (or the manga, if you haven’t read it), but if Japan starts building glorious new Olympic stadiums, we should really, really check to make sure what they’re hiding under it.
This is what Japan’s Olympic dreams look like in 2013 …
… but wait until 2019.
Who’s hosting in 2024, Shiganshina?
