On the Scene in Tokyo - Toyota Chairman Pitches IOC

(ATR) The chairman of Toyota says sponsors "would rush to support" a 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

"We emphasize sports. We promote sports. There are many Japanese enterprises that share the same view," Fujio Cho told reporters Tuesday after addressing members of the IOC Evaluation Commission.

As usual, they spent the morning hunkered indoors hearing presentations on a few of the 14 themes from the bid book.Finance and marketing were first up Tuesday with Cho speaking to the "exceptional financial certainty" and "business community support" of Tokyo 2020, as his later press briefing was billed.

"If we hosted the Olympics in 2020, companies would rush to support the Games. They would be willing to be sponsors," said Cho, who also heads the Japanese Sports Association.

As a gold partner of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Toyota is already one of the bid committee’s top-tier sponsors.

According to Cho, the carmaker would support the Games "with major efforts" if Tokyo can beat out rival bids from Istanbul and Madrid, the IOC’s other stops this month.

Asked by Around the Rings whether the Japanese economy is healthy enough to host and whether the Games would have a significant impact given the size of the economy here, he said he expects a "ripple effect" to be born.

"I’m not an economist," he admitted, citing the "momentous growth" that followed Tokyo 1964 and his "quite natural" expectation for infrastructure improvements and overseas visitors to bring the same sort of boost again.

"I don’t know the level exactly," said Cho, "but it will have a positive impact."

Tuesday’s other two presentations were on political and public support as well as legal aspects.

Among the speakers were Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary; Katsura Enyo, Senior Director for Planning, Bureau of Sports, Tokyo Metropolitan Government; Tomohiro Tohyama, Attorney at Law, TMI Associates; Hiroshi Yanai, PIA Corporation President; and Tsunekazu Takeda, President of Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese Olympic Committee.

According to a bid spokesman, Suga addressed financial guarantees; Enyo delivered full details of the government’s plan to support OCOG and non-OCOG budgets; Tohyama explained planned measures for rights protection and the prohibition of ambush marketing; Yanai unveiled a ticketing plan to fill stadium seats during the Games; and Takeda outlined the marketing plan for Tokyo 2020.

After lunch, members of the Evaluation Commission continue their inspection duties with another six venue visits.

On tap Tuesday are the Olympic Stadium (proposed for football, rugby and athletics as well as both ceremonies); Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (table tennis); Yoyogi National Stadium (handball); Nippon Budokan (judo); Imperial Palace Garden (start of road cycling); and Tokyo International Forum (weightlifting).

Reported from Tokyo by Matthew Grayson

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.