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Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed to 2021. The event will be modified significantly to ensure everyone's safety amid the pandemic. As of July 2020, the details of how this will be done remain frustratingly uncertain. Options range from quarantining participants upon arrival, to holding the Games without spectators (though the IOC wants to avoid that if possible), or canceling the Games entirely.
Despite an optimistic outlook from Japan and the IOC, most public health officials and media are doubtful the Games can be safely held in 2021 without changes that would be too drastic to swallow. Organizers have confirmed the Tokyo Olympics won't be postponed past 2021, so it appears likely that they will eventually be cancelled. |
| (Information last updated 28 Jul 2020) |
| Games of the XXXII Olympiad |
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 Tokyo, Japan – 23/7/2021 |
| Has concluded |
- The Tokyo article provides a more comprehensive guide to those visiting the city.
The Games of the XXXII Olympiad, the 2020 Summer Olympics, are scheduled to be held in Tokyo from 23 July to 8 August 2021, having been postponed from 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Paralympics are to take place from 24 August to 5 September 2021. Some events will be held in other locations throughout Japan.
Tokyo will be the only Asian city to have hosted two summer Olympics, having hosted the games in 1964.
For the first time, climbing, karate, skateboarding and surfing will feature at the Olympics, while baseball and softball make their return after being dropped from the 2012 Olympics.
Tickets to Olympic and Paralympic events will be honored in 2021, if the Games proceed as planned. If you booked your flights and accommodation for 2020 before the postponement was announced, you may have a tricky situation. Cancellation policies vary, although as of late June it's likely that you'll be able to cancel your flights. Airlines may not give full refunds if you cancel your ticket—although if you hold off and the airline cancels the flight, you might be entitled to a refund. Rescheduling flights is probably not an option, as airlines only schedule flights up to 11 months in advance; there's no way to postpone your flight by a full year.
Prepare
Tickets
It's expected that most event tickets will cost between ¥2,500 and ¥130,000, with typical tickets costing around ¥7,000. Tickets to the opening ceremony will cost ¥15,000–300,000. At recent Olympics Games cheaper seat categories were heavily oversubscribed.
Accommodation
Bookings made for the original 2020 dates will have to be changed to 2021.
It's best to be within easy reach of Minato or Odaiba for the Olympic Park, but the cheaper hostels area at Asakusa is not far either. Cheap and plentiful accommodation can be found in prefectures surrounding Tokyo, so if you don't mind the trade-off of 30–60 minutes of commute, you can still plan an Olympics trip even if accommodation seems to be otherwise prohibitively expensive or hard to find. Examples can include looking at hotels near stations on a single train line into Tokyo, such as in central Saitama (prefecture), southern Ibaraki, or the area in Chiba (prefecture) between Tokyo and Narita. Southern Chiba and western Kanagawa would likely be too far to consider for most people as a daily commute to the games.
Get in
General information about traveling to Tokyo appears in the Tokyo article. Most travelers will arrive by plane at Haneda Airport from cities with heavy business traffic, or the less convenient Narita Airport from other international cities.
Get around
General information about getting around Tokyo appears in the Tokyo article.
Driving in Tokyo is usually a bad idea, and during the Olympics it will probably be impossible to find any parking vacancy in the whole city. Just use the train/metro system, which is used to huge crowds. The train/metro system is the most efficient way to travel in Tokyo. It is also good fun planning the routes.
See
Where
Most events will take place in Tokyo or close to it, with three further cities holding some football games and a fourth hosting some baseball and softball games:
- Fukushima, about 90 minutes north of Tokyo.
- Kashima, about 90 minutes northeast of Tokyo.
- Sendai, two hours north of Tokyo.
- Sapporo, in the very north of Japan.
Most sites are not built yet.
Venues in Tokyo, near Yoyogi:
- 1 New National Stadium (新国立競技場). Opening ceremony, track and field, soccer.
- 2 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (東京体育館). Table tennis.
- 3 Yoyogi National Stadium (国立代々木競技場). Handball.
Venues in Tokyo, near the Imperial Palace:
- 4 Nippon Budokan (日本武道館). Judo.
- 5 Imperial Palace Garden (皇居外苑). Start of the bicycle road race.
- 6 Tokyo International Forum (東京国際フォーラム). Weight lifting.
- 7 Kokugikan Arena (両国国技館). Boxing, in Japan's most famous sumo wrestling place.
Venues in Tokyo, around Ariake:
- 8 Ariake Arena (有明アリーナ). Indoor volleyball.
- 9 Olympic BMX Course (有明BMXコース). BMX.
- 10 Olympic Velodrome (有明ベロドローム). Cycling track.
- 11 Olympic Gymnastic Centre (有明体操競技場). Gymnastics.
- 12 Ariake Tennis Park (有明テニスの森). Tennis.
- 13 Odaiba Marine Park (お台場海浜公園). Triathlon, marathon swimming.
- 14 Shiokaze Park (潮風公園). Beach volleyball.
- 15 Tokyo Big Sight Hall A (東京ビッグサイト・ホールA). Wrestling.
- 16 Tokyo Big Sight Hall B (東京ビッグサイト・ホールB). Fencing, taekwondo.
- 17 Seaside Park Hockey Stadium (大井ホッケー競技場). Hockey. Nice park nearby, including a bird sanctuary with an observation deck with free binoculars and a small museum.
- 18 Olympic Village (選手村). Train hard enough and you might get your accommodation here. Only athletes, trainers and officials are allowed.
Venues in Tokyo, around Sea Forest (海の森)
- 19 Sea Forest Cross-Country Course (海の森クロスカントリーコース). Equestrian eventing cross-country.
- 20 Sea Forest Waterway (海の森水上競技場). Rowing, canoe-kayak.
- 21 Sea Forest Mountain Bike Course (海の森マウンテンバイクコース). Mountain bike.
- 22 Wakasu Olympic Marina (若洲オリンピックマリーナ). Sailing.
- 23 Kasai Slalom Course (葛西臨海公園). Canoe-kayak slalom.
Venues in Tokyo, around Dream Island (夢の島):
- 24 Youth Plaza Arena A (夢の島ユース・プラザ・アリーナA). Badminton.
- 25 Youth Plaza Arena B (夢の島ユース・プラザ・アリーナB). Basketball.
- 26 Dream Island Archery Field (夢の島公園). Archery.
- 27 Olympic Aquatics Centre (オリンピックアクアティックセンター). Swimming, synchronised swimming, diving.
- 28 Waterpolo Arena (ウォーターポロアリーナ). Waterpolo.
Venues in Musashino, one hour from the Tokyo center:
- 29 Musashino Forest Sport Centre (武蔵野の森総合スポーツ施設). Modern pentathlon: fencing.
- 30 Ajinomoto Stadium (東京スタジアム, Tokyo Stadium). Football, modern pentathlon (swimming, riding, running, shooting), and rugby sevens.
- 31 Musashino Forest Park (武蔵の森公園). Finish of the bicycle road race.
Other venues one hour from the Tokyo center:
- 32 Asaka shooting Range (陸上自衛隊朝霞訓練場). Shooting.
- 33 Kasumigaseki Country Club (霞ケ関カンツリー倶楽部). Golf.
- 34 Saitama Stadium (埼玉スタジアム２００２) (In Saitama.). Football.
- 35 Saitama Super Arena (さいたまスーパーアリーナ) (In Saitama.). Basketball.
- 36 International Stadium Yokohama (横浜国際総合競技場) (In Yokohama.). Football.
- 37 Yokohama Stadium (横浜スタジアム) (In Yokohama.). Baseball and softball.
Venues in further cities:
- 38 Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium (福島県営あづま球場) (in Fukushima, about 90 minutes north of Tokyo and 30 minutes south of Sendai). Baseball and softball.
- 39 Kashima Soccer Stadium (茨城県立カシマサッカースタジアム) (in Kashima, about 90 minutes northeast of Tokyo). Football.
- 40 Miyagi Stadium (宮城スタジアム) (in Sendai, two hours north of Tokyo). Football.
- 41 Sapporo Dome (札幌ドーム) (in Sapporo, in the very north of Japan, reachable by plane or 4 hours on bullet train). Football.
Calendar
Olympics
Paralympics
The Olympic Games will be followed two weeks later with the Summer Paralympic Games. Most of the Paralympic events will be held in the same venues as the Olympics.
Do
Tokyo has many other attractions, which are worth checking between the two games.
Buy
Some of the most popular shopping sites in Tokyo include:
- Akihabara, Tokyo's Electric Town, is the center of the electronics stores, and the stores along Chuo-dori are packed to the rafters with anime (animation) and manga (comics)
- the Antique Mall in Ginza or the Antique Market in Omotesando
- Shinjuku has the camera stores
- Shibuya and neighboring Harajuku are the best-known shopping areas for funky, youthful clothes and accessories
- Kappabashi Street near Asakusa, also known as “Kitchen Town” is lined with stores selling all kinds of kitchen wares
- Ochanomizu has what must be the world’s densest collection of guitar shops, and plenty of other musical instruments are available
- Nakamise in Asakusa and the Oriental Bazaar in Omotesando stock all the kitschy things like kanji-emblazoned T-shirts, foreigner-sized kimonos, ninja outfits for kids and ersatz samurai swords
- Ueno's Ameyoko and Yanaka Ginza in the Shitamachi Taito district are good neighborhood shopping streets
Eat
If you want a break from the food available at the Olympic Park, head for the neighbouring Odaiba, Shinbashi, Daimon, where plenty of Japanese and other options are available.
Drink
Sleep
Go next
- Hakone
- Kyoto
- Osaka
- Seoul
- Wikivoyage:Past events/Pyeongchang 2018 – previous Winter Olympics
- Beijing 2022 – next Winter Olympics