The Japanese press is rather compliant in comparison to their western counterparts. Self censorship and press club's known in Japan as Kisha ensure that any opposing view will be constrained by the need for inclusiveness and access to government press releases and officials. You're asking why is this relevant? Because the four biggest newspapers in Japan became official sponsors of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games.
On January 21 these publicans the Yomiuri Shinbun, Mainichi Shinbun, Nihon Keizai and the Asahi Shinbun announced in front page articles they had paid to become official sponsors of the games. Usually one would view the press as arbiter of good governance and accountability over public funds being used for a private purpose. With these four nationwide publicans agreeing to monetarily support the Olympics they have willingly abstained from their mission of holding the government and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee to transparency and accountability.
Because it’s never too early to talk about how expensive the Olympics will be, Tokyo Shimbun pondered the question on Feb. 6 and found out that no one involved has a clue about the cost of the 2020 Games.
On January 21 these publicans the Yomiuri Shinbun, Mainichi Shinbun, Nihon Keizai and the Asahi Shinbun announced in front page articles they had paid to become official sponsors of the games. Usually one would view the press as arbiter of good governance and accountability over public funds being used for a private purpose. With these four nationwide publicans agreeing to monetarily support the Olympics they have willingly abstained from their mission of holding the government and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee to transparency and accountability.
Because it’s never too early to talk about how expensive the Olympics will be, Tokyo Shimbun pondered the question on Feb. 6 and found out that no one involved has a clue about the cost of the 2020 Games.
In 2007, the organizers of the 2012 London Olympics already had a good idea of how much they were going to pay — the equivalent of ¥1.6 trillion — and from that point the British government checked and revised the estimate every six months, and then made the figures public. In the end, their projection exceeded the actual amount paid by ¥60 billion.
Everyone Tokyo Shimbun asked shrugged. Last December, when news outlets reported that the cost of the games would be about ¥1.8 trillion, much more than the ¥350 billion Tokyo claimed when it made its initial bid, Toshiro Muto, the head of the organizing committee, said, “We don’t have a comprehensive expense estimate yet.” To gain some perspective, the paper asked an expert on public works projects, and he said that new projections for the construction of some venues are already three times their initial estimates.
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