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FILE – In this June 3, 2020 photo, Olympic rings float on the water at sunset in Tokyo’s Odaiba section. Masa Takaya, the spokesperson for the Tokyo Olympics, said Thursday, July 9, 2020, that he is confident the postponed games can be held in 2021 despite a recent survey in Japan in which 77% of respondents said that they did not believe that the games could be held. next year. (AP Photo / Eugene Hoshiko, file)
Organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics postponed by the coronavirus said Wednesday they have chosen a new creative director to redesign the “simpler and more moderate” opening and closing ceremonies for next year’s Games.
The mammoth task will fall to advertising executive Hiroshi Sasaki, who helped produce the award ceremony for the Games from Rio to Tokyo, in which then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was introduced as a character from the video game Super Mario.
Organizers said the decision to replace a previous seven-person creative team would improve efficiency by reshaping the traditionally lavish and spectacular ceremonies to be “in tune with the situation.”
“The ceremonies will continue to be a great celebration for athletes and the world of spectators to enjoy, but will likely take a simpler and more restricted approach designed to reflect the overall simplification of the Games and the possible need to continue to consider COVID-countermeasures. 19 “. organizers said in a statement.
Sasaki replaces a team led by Mansai Nomura, a traditional Kyogen comic theater master who had committed to producing ceremonies “rich in Japanese spirit.”
Sasaki designed the simple event organizers that were held in July to mark the new year until the postponed Games.
That saw Japanese swimmer and leukemia survivor Rikako Ikee appear in a dark, empty stadium holding the Olympic flame in a lantern, which organizers said reflected the principles that would guide the redesigned ceremonies.
“It is appropriate to simplify ceremonial events and programs and have them reflect and somehow respect the global experience of the COVID-19 pandemic,” they said.
Speaking to reporters, Sasaki said he still remembered seeing the opening ceremony of the 1964 Olympics as a child, the first time Tokyo hosted the Summer Games, and that he had enjoyed the traditionally lavish events of opening and closing of the sporting event.
“But now these showy outlandish ceremonies are considered too much and we must think of this moment as an opportunity to change because of COVID-19, or rather because of COVID-19,” he said.
He admitted that he hasn’t made much progress in the direction of the new ceremonies yet, but said they would emphasize the theme of the Games serving as the “light at the end of the tunnel” after the pandemic.
Organizers are moving ahead with preparations for the postponed Games, announcing a new budget, test event schedule and countermeasures for the coronavirus in recent weeks.
But public opinion in Japan continues to oppose holding the event next year, with a majority in favor of further delay or total cancellation.
Organizers announced Wednesday that they have received reimbursement requests for around 200,000 Paralympic event tickets sold in Japan, about 21 percent of the total.
Earlier in the month, they announced refund requests for about 18 percent of tickets sold in the country for Olympic events.
Fans who purchased tickets abroad must separately request refunds in their countries, and no figures have been provided for those refunds.
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