Olympic Games are a lift for Japan
Since no one can predict what the world will be like in seven years, the International Olympic Committee finally voted for a safe pair of hands at a time of global uncertainty.
It was the worst of times and the best of times for Tokyo last week. For days, fresh revelations of serious leaks of radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant threatened to sink the city's bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. It seemed a question of which contender to host the Olympics came with the least baggage - Madrid with Spain's economic meltdown, Istanbul with Turkey's neighbour Syria embroiled in a civil war and humanitarian crisis - or Tokyo.
Since no one can predict what the world will be like in seven years, the International Olympic Committee finally voted for a safe pair of hands at a time of global uncertainty. It was Japan, with its financial solidity and track record of getting it right, for example for the 2002 World Cup football tournament and the 1964 Olympic Games. Concerns over the progress of Rio de Janeiro's preparations for hosting the 2016 Olympics did not do Tokyo's chances any harm, either.
The 1964 Games marked a rebuilt Japan's coming out on the international stage after the self-made disaster of wartime defeat and destruction. Hosting the 2020 Games could help restore the nation's spirits and self-belief after the natural disaster of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 18,000 dead and led to the biggest nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cannot really claim much personal credit for the successful bid after Tokyo failed to secure the 2012 or 2016 Games. But it was, for him, an important and timely victory, politically and economically, when he is trying to stimulate the stagnant economy of an ageing nation after two decades of deflation. He will be hoping that the boost to national pride will lift sentiment and help firm up the support of Japanese people for his policies.
Japan has budgeted another US$500 million to try to fix the radioactive leak crisis. Abe insists the situation is under control and will not damage Tokyo, 230 kilometres away. For the sake of his people and the region's environment, we trust he is right. Otherwise Istanbul might seem a safer place come 2020.