TOKYO'S bid to host the 2016 Olympics, observed many of its disappointed residents afterwards, failed because of a lack of passion. After years of rising economic insecurity and public debt, Tokyoites simply could not muster enough enthusiasm to put on the world’s costliest sporting extravaganza. There was no such problem this time.

In beating Madrid and Istanbul on September 7th for the right to host the 2020 Games, Tokyo impressed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a bid which is supported by 70% of the city’s population. That level of backing has risen by 14 percentage points since the earthquake/tsunami that wrecked Japan’s northeast coast in March 2011. It might appear strange that it took a disaster to rekindle Tokyo’s passion for the Olympics, but the city’s government relentlessly sold the idea that the event would help Japan recover—and many Japanese believe it. Ironically then, the lingering Fukushima nuclear crisis, triggered by that disaster, threatened to trip up Tokyo’s bid at the final hurdle. A string of problems at the leaky Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 230km (140 miles) from the capital, put Tokyo’s Olympic organisers on the defensive, and forced Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to find $470m to plug the leaks. The world’s top athletes will be safe from radiation, he pledged before the IOC’s final vote on Saturday in Buenos Aires. “Let me assure you the situation is under control. It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo,” he said.





Mr Abe had less to say about whether Japan can afford the games. Tokyo will build 22 of the 37 Olympic venues from scratch, and spend $1 billion refurbishing the national Olympic stadium, the centerpiece of Japan's 1964 Olympics. The government’s estimated price tag for all this construction is ¥409 billion yen ($4.1 billion), which it hopes will be offset by a ¥3 trillion Olympic windfall. That is almost certainly optimistic: every single Games since 1960 has failed to meet the cost target. The average overrun has been a whopping 179%.









The question of cost is likely to loom large over the next seven years. Japan passed an unwelcome landmark last month, passing ¥1 quadrillion in public debt for the first time. Mr Abe’s solution to Japan’s economic woes has been to ratchet up spending on public works and to direct the Bank of Japan to embark on a radical monetary easing. The third part of “Abenomics”

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structural reform

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is yet to come. Hosting the Olympics will certainly encourage one traditional constituency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the construction state. It will also boost Mr Abe’s credentials as a strong leader capable of putting Japan’s gleaming, efficient capital back onto the world stage. But can it bring something more lasting to Japan? The government will hope that the Olympic news will give Abenomics a further shot in the arm, bringing to the country some of the feel-good effect that lit up Britain last year. For now, Mr Abe will be able to bask in all the expectation of sporting and economic glory. By 2020, after all, another government will probably have taken the baton and will have to cope if Olympic reality falls short of the mark.