News On Japan

Athletes' village features accessibility, scenic views

Jan 10, 2020 (Japan Times) - Details of the waterfront athletes’ village for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games were revealed Thursday, with organizers emphasizing its accessibility and ease of use for para-athletes.

Located near the center of scheduled events inside the capital, the 44-hectare village features three sides offering scenic views of the sea. A transport mall at the center of the village will provide buses to and from the venues.

“It’s distinct for not being in the suburbs but being in the middle of the city, close to Odaiba, Haneda, Shinagawa and Ginza,” said village general manager Takashi Kitajima. “Athletes will be able to bask in a sense of spacious calm as they take in the views on offer.”

Some 21 buildings, which are between 14 and 18 stories tall, will accommodate 18,000 beds for athletes and staff during the Olympics, and 8,000 during the Paralympics. A total of 3,800 condominiums can hold up to eight people, with each room having up to two beds.

The bed frames are made of sturdy recycled cardboard, in line with organizers’ efforts to host an environmentally friendly and sustainable games.

Air conditioners used in the village will be donated after the games to areas hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that devastated Tohoku. The village’s residential buildings are planned to be renovated and converted to apartments after the games.

The two-story main dining hall will remain open 24 hours a day since there are no cooking facilities in the condominiums.

Athletes can also access a complex inside the premises housing a clinic, gym and casual dining.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Halloween celebrations are taking place across Japan ahead of October 31, which falls on a Saturday for the first time in six years, with Tokyo's Shibuya district introducing crowd-control measures including barricades around the Hachiko statue and road closures, while Tama Zoological Park has reopened its lion exhibit after seven animals recovered from heatstroke.

Toyota Motor will begin operating fully autonomous taxis in 2027 through a partnership with U.S. self-driving technology company Waymo, marking a major step in the Japanese automaker's efforts to expand driverless transportation services.

Mount Fuji has received its first snowcap of the season, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on October 30, after temperatures at the summit plunged to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, marking the arrival of winter conditions on Japan's highest mountain.

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that a Chinese female intelligence operative developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an attempt to obtain confidential corporate and U.S. government information, according to a report published by The New York Times on October 29th.

The Japanese government has asked major telecommunications operators to forcibly block access to websites believed to contain personal information stolen in a cyberattack on GMO, it emerged on October 29th, as authorities moved to prevent further exposure of sensitive data online.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

Japan's rapidly aging population is facing a growing crisis of elderly people dying alone at home, with grieving families sometimes unable to see their loved ones before burial and landlords increasingly forced to shoulder substantial cleanup and estate clearance costs when relatives abandon their inheritance.

Traditional Japanese crafts are finding an unexpected source of skilled workers in prisons across the country, where inmates are learning painstaking production techniques that build patience and concentration while helping preserve industries struggling with a shortage of craftspeople.

A Japanese woman in her 20s was found dead at an apartment complex in Cheonan, central South Korea, on October 29th, prompting police to detain a South Korean man in his 30s on suspicion of murder after he allegedly confessed to killing her because he had decided to commit suicide following stock market losses but could not bring himself to die alone.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted the annual autumn garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on October 29, welcoming approximately 1,400 guests, including actor Kotaro Yoshida and novelist Miyuki Miyabe, while female members of the Imperial Family attended in traditional Japanese attire.

A 59-year-old water sports rental shop owner in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, has received a letter of appreciation from police after rescuing a paraglider who plunged into a lake on September 21, pulling the unconscious man from the water and performing CPR after discovering he was no longer breathing.

A married couple in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, have been arrested after police discovered cannabis plants growing in pots on the terrace of their home during a search connected to a separate investigation, authorities said on October 28th.

A woman in her 80s was killed after her car entered railway tracks on the Odakyu Enoshima Line in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly before 10:30 p.m. on October 27, with security camera footage showing the vehicle traveling along the tracks, passing an oncoming train and stopping with its hazard lights flashing before being struck from behind by another train.

A teenage male was rushed to a hospital after suffering an electric shock while putting away a motorized basketball hoop at a gymnasium in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, in an accident believed to have been caused by an incompatible extension cord, according to a report on October 27th.