TOKYO 2020

The TOKYO 2020 Games had come to an end (The Olympic Games were held from July 23 to August 8, 2021, and the Paralympic Games were held from August 24 to September 5, 2021). This year’s Games were held under the very unusual circumstances of a worldwide pandemic of infectious diseases. We are sure that all the participants in the various competitions and all the people had in the Games had a very hard time. The physical condition and etc. during the event must have been completely different from a normal competition. We would like to express our sincere appreciation and admiration for your efforts. Of course, it is not only thanks to the participants and the people involved in the competition that this event was successfully held. We should express our gratitude to all the Japanese companies and corporations, including restaurants and retailers, who have taken various measures, to the cooperation of the Japanese people as a whole, and to all the people from countries and regions around the world who have cheered for this event.

This year’s TOKYO 2020 Games made us rethink the importance of the word “participate” or “take part”. A sentence from a speech given by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, President of the IOC at the time of the London Games in 1908, quoting the words of the Anglican Archbishop of Pennsylvania, Ethelbert Talbot, is well known.

“L’important, c’est de participer”
In English：”The importance of these Orympiads is not so much to win, as to take part”

The words “participate” and “take part” probably have a variety of meanings. Perhaps we should also understand this word as “sharing something together”. There was a lot of last-minute deliberation on how to hold this event, including the availability of spectators at each competition site. There were pros and cons to holding this event itself. However, all those things that all kinds of people thought about, talked about, and acted on might be the fact that they were properly participating in this event. And we believe that all of these were the right ways to “participate”. Since modern times, the significance of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has been “the promotion of youth education and the realization of world peace through sporting events. In times of global anomalies such as this time, questioning the significance of holding the event or raising opinions about canceling or postponing it must be also a form of “participate”. We are sure that we have gained a lot from this event. We hope that what we have gained will lead to “the promotion of education for the next generation and the realization of world peace through sports competitions” in the future, as originally intended.

The threat from the global spread of COVID-19 is far from over. We can never be too careful. We sincerely hope that this global disaster will end soon, even if it is only for a minute or two, and also wish that peace will prevail in all countries and regions of the world.


2021/10/01　Epic Japan