Rugby World Cup 2019: wake up Japan, ditch the protocols and let your hair down
One year out, organisers waste a glorious opportunity in a glorious locale by putting dynamic and vibrant Shibuya Crossing to sleep
Shibuya crossing is full on. The busiest and most famous intersection in the world, more than 1,000 people can move in every direction during a single traffic light change. There are few higher profile places in Japan, which is why Rugby World Cup organisers chose the massive video screens above the crossing to roll out their one-year countdown to next year’s big event.
Right on cue at 7pm, the screens come alive flashing the logo of the 2019 World Cup followed by a couple of minutes of intense dramatic action. Then, well, I don’t mean to tell anyone how to sell in a world stuck in clickbait hell, but when you rent possibly the most expensive video screens on the planet for 30 minutes and use almost all of it on static shots of VIPs, politicians and officials cutting ribbons and answering questions, the word impact does not jump to mind.
No matter what is on the menu, face will be served first in Asia. It brings back far too many memories of sports gathering all over the continent where the first 20 pages of event programmes are full of pictures and bios of largely nameless officials.
This one hurts a little more, though, because it reeks of wasted opportunity. This is Japan, the neon capital of the world, home to dynamic anime and the type of quirky in-your-face graphic visualisation that the rest of the world is enamoured with.
And this is Tokyo, one of the most vibrant and incandescent cities in the universe.