The 6th IOC Coordination Commission Meeting

The 6th IOC Coordination Commission Meeting, Tokyo 2020 was held for three days from Tuesday, July 10, and Governor Yuriko Koike attended the opening session on the first day. In attendance were Governor Koike, Mr. John Coates, Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, President of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Mr. Shunichi Suzuki, Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, among others.

The governor told the IOC Coordination Commission members that preparation was proceeding across Japan to make the Tokyo 2020 Games a wonderful sporting event. She said, “on June 11, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government released its recruitment guidelines for city volunteers along with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee’s announcement of guidelines for Games volunteers. With the cooperation of these volunteers, we want to welcome Olympic and Paralympic athletes and officials, domestic and foreign visitors, and everyone, with the spirit of Omotenashi hospitality.” In addition, remarking that the “realization of smooth transport is necessary for the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games,” the governor expressed her gratitude toward the enactment of the bill amending the Act on Special Measures for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which moves three holidays around the opening and closing ceremonies, and introduced concrete steps that will be taken to ease road congestion and overcrowding on trains during the Games period, including a Flex Time Biz campaign, which encourage workers to stagger their hours, and the promotion of telework. Furthermore, Governor Koike reported on the passage of the ordinance on prevention of secondhand smoke to achieve a smoke-free Games, studies on a bill to uphold the human rights principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter, and implementation of an initiative to offset CO₂ emitted during the Games. The governor said, “we want to continue taking measures appropriate for the host city of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” and that “we will continue to foster momentum for the Games through the 2-year countdown event, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Flag and Paralympic Flag Tour, implemented nationwide, and others.”