TOKYO — When the cauldron from the 1964 Olympics here was removed last month — 50 years after it was lit — it was to make way for a futuristic new stadium to anchor Tokyo's next Olympics, in 2020.Just as winning the '64 Olympics signaled Japan's recovery from the devastation of World War II, organizers of the Summer Games six years from now hope that it will mark another renaissance for a country mired in a two-decade-long economic funk. Yet, the plans already are sparking controversy over things such as cost, design of the stadium and environmental concerns.
The stadium blueprint, panned as resembling a bicycle helmet crossed with a spaceship, were scaled back when cost estimates soared over $3 billion, more than double the original price. Even so, the revised design — with a roof, movable seats, a museum and restaurants — will soar nearly 20 stories and dominate one of Tokyo's last remaining green spaces.
"It is so wrong in so many ways," prominent Tokyo architect David Suzuki said.
Tokyo had promised to create a more "compact" Games for 2020, with most venues within five miles of the Olympic Village, extensive use of existing facilities, and widespread use of clean, hydrogen power.
It's quite a change from 1964, when only one in five households in Japan even had flushing toilets. Tokyo rallied to the challenge then, building roads and the famed "bullet" train that cruised at an unheard-of 125 mph.
To save time and money, expressways were built over canals and open spaces. Even the graceful and historic Nihonbashi Bridge all but disappeared under the shadow of looming expressways.
"A half-century later, (the '64 Olympics) has left the city awash in ugly buildings, bland public areas and few cityscapes that any tourist, or resident, would care to look at," The Japan Times noted in a recent editorial.
Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe says he wants to undo at least some of that. He introduced plans to build major loop highways to draw traffic out of the city center and to create wide walkways in two of Tokyo's busiest business districts.
Whether Tokyo can deliver once again remains to be seen. About $4.5 billion has already been set aside for Olympic venues and related projects, but that may not be enough.
Masuzoe, who took office after Tokyo won the Olympic bid last year, ordered a review of the entire construction plan after he said costs for some projects climbed as much as 50 times above original estimates.
That increase is due in part to the large-scale recovery projects in areas devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, creating a shortage of labor and materials for other building programs, including the Olympics.
But simply living up to the legacy of the '64 Games may be Tokyo's biggest challenge.
"For Japan, the 1964 Olympics were not only an international sports event, but also an opportunity to demonstrate its economic revival and democratization to the entire world — and to regain its international standing," said Shoichi Yukiyoshi, curator of the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which held a retrospective on the '64 Games for the anniversary.
Tokyo was awarded the Games only 14 years after the end of World War II. There were few decent roads and only a handful of modern hotels. Engineers worked feverishly to develop the Shinkansen, or the "bullet" train. Service started just 10 days before the Games opened, with smooth, quiet trains running from Tokyo to Osaka.
Elevated expressways soon crisscrossed the city, connecting Olympic venues and public facilities. A futuristic monorail connected the airport to downtown.
A citywide cleanup campaign was also launched. Canals and waterways were dredged. Restaurant hygiene was improved. And portable ashtrays were distributed to smokers — nearly everybody, in those days — to clear ugly cigarette butts from streets and sidewalks before thousands of foreign tourists arrived.
"Tokyo was truly transformed in those five years. Along with the psychological impact of hosting, this was the most important effect of the Games," said Paul Droubie, an assistant professor of history at Manhattan College in New York.
Droubie said organizers of the '64 Olympics overcame many challenges, and the current group will likely do the same.
"From very early on, people questioned the cost and asked if it wasn't too early for Tokyo and Japan to host an Olympics," he said about the '64 Games. "I suspect the same thing will happen by 2020."
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