Foreign Press Center Japan Press Briefing, August 17, 2021

You can watch the archived video on YouTube (External link)

On August 17, 2021, Governor Koike gave an online press briefing titled “Tokyo 2020 Paralympics: Our Pledge for a Successful Games” to members of the Foreign Press Center Japan (FPCJ). The governor began by expressing her condolences to those who had lost loved ones to the pandemic, and her gratitude to healthcare workers for all of their efforts.

Topics included:

• The governor’s expression of appreciation for everyone who helped to make the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games a success, despite the special anti-covid measures which needed to be taken
• The Governor’s hope that the Games would be a “Beacon of hope” for the world
• The original concept of the Games as the “Recovery Olympics and Paralympics” in reference to the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011, and the elements of recovery of the disaster-hit areas which were featured during the Games
• The Games as a venue to display Tokyo’s plan for sustainable recovery, and the hosting of the Sustainable Recovery Tokyo Forum, or “ReStaRT,” which was attended by Mayor Hidalgo of Paris, Mayor Garcetti of Los Angeles, and others
• The coming Paralympics, and the importance of creating a city free from physical and social barriers
• Comparing and contrasting the infrastructure legacy of 1964 with the intangible sustainability legacies of the Tokyo 2020 Games
• Programs started by TMG to promote the Paralympics and increase popular understanding of the Games, including TEAM BEYOND and the NO LIMITS CHALLENGE, plus also providing high-tech innovative solutions so that students at special needs schools could experience the Games as if they were there in-person
• The most gender-balanced Olympics, and the Paralympics with the largest number of female athletes participating in history
• Tokyo’s transformation to a more accessibility-friendly city
• Tokyo’s celebration of culture, including the “Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL” and “PAVILION TOKYO 2021”
• TOKYO UPDATES website focusing on the charms of Tokyo