Whether you’ve already booked your flight or you’re considering to attend the 2020 Olympics, here are some tips and helpful advice to enable you to have a memorable experience in Tokyo.
In less than twelve months, sports lovers will be flocking to Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games. More than 600,000 people from outside Japan are expected to travel to the Japan capital and the nearby regions. The Games, as they have been every four years, will be a test of logistics and planning for organizers as well as the attendees.
But there are ways you can make the most out of your stay in Tokyo and help enhance the smooth operation of the Games.
Regardless of whether you already have the ticket or are considering going, this article will help you get answers to some of the questions you might have about the 2020 Olympics. You will also get tricks and hints that will enable you to have a memorable moment in Japan.
The Games and the Venues
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will officially start with the opening ceremony in Tokyo on 4th July, with preliminary soccer and softball matches set to begin on 22nd July, running through 9th August. The Paralympics will start on 25th August and end on 6th September.
The matches will take place across nine stadiums, with the majority of games happening in two areas of Tokyo: Tokyo Bay Zone and the Heritage Zone.
Stadiums outside Tokyo include Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in Fukushima and Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido island.
The New Sports
You can expect to find five new sports in the Olympic lineup, which stands at 33 at the moment. This is good news for Surfing, skateboarding, baseball and softball, karate, and sport climbing lovers as they will enjoy seeing their favorite games at the Olympics. This also offers an excellent opportunity for betting lovers to try their luck. Olympic fans can get betting tips by visiting sites such as mobilebet odds and place their bets.
Also, existing sports like kayaking, boxing, canoeing, and fencing, will see a rebalancing with other events added to increase gender equality.
Where to Get Tickets? Or Am I Too Late?
The 1st round of the Tokyo Olympics was issued through a lottery system and was limited to Japan residents and closed on 28th May. It was followed by the ‘’lottery measure’’ in August. Paralympic tickets were also issued through the lottery and closed on 9th September.
About 30% of the expected 7.8 million tickets have been set aside for international visitors, with 2020 games organizers careful to ensure that the majority of tickets are sold to local fans.
The Authorized Ticket Resellers (ATRs) are running the first phase of international ticket sales. The ATRs have been assigned to the National Olympic Committee of each country, and fans are expected to buy the tickets through an ATR of their respective nations.
For those in the United States, the ticket sales will be run by CoSport and started in July. As of now, all available tickets are sold out, but subsequent rounds of selling tickets will take place on an ongoing basis through 2020, before the beginning of the games.
An online resale site is expected to be hosted by the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee at the beginning of spring, with the ticket prices expected to remain the same. The tickets will be available for both Japanese and international visitors and will provide relief for people who missed tickets at the initial ticketing rounds.
What if I Can’t Get a Ticket at All?
If you aren’t able to secure a ticket at all, it doesn’t necessarily imply that you will not experience the Olympics fun in Tokyo. The Olympics organizing committee has approved thirty ‘’Live Site’’ places across Japan where those without tickets, including areas affected by Kumamoto and Tohoku earthquakes.
The sites will feature live sports broadcasts, cultural events as well as other programs. Attendees will have the opportunity to try out different Olympic and Paralympic sports.
If you’re wondering whether you’ll be persecuted for posting photos taken during the event on social media, here is the truth.
The organizing committee will not prevent ticket holders from posting photos they take during the Olympics on social media. But, if you are planning to use them for commercial production, then that is not allowed.
