Sakurada Silent on Tokyo 2020 Budget Questions

(ATR) Japan’s Olympic and Paralympic Minister Yoshitaka Sakurada said late last year he would work to provide clarity on the budget for Tokyo 2020, but in a recent interview with Around the Rings declined to answer questions about what that means.

ATR submitted questions for Sakurada by email on the subjects of his portfolio as minister, budget clarification, and his cybersecurity initiatives.

When asked why there has been friction between the national government and Tokyo 2020 about what is considered an explicit Olympic project, Sakurada said to ATR "it is difficult to answer".

"Therefore I will refrain from answering," Sakurada added.

That friction came after the Japanese Board of Audits released a report saying over $7 billion had already been spent for the Games, and warned costs could exceed the $12.6 billion budget with construction, staging the Games, and other associated costs.

Tokyo 2020 organizers insisted many of the costs included in the Board of Audit report were only tangentially related to the Olympics, and should not be included in the Games’ budget. Before the 2018 Olympics Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced additional costs needed to prepare Tokyo for the 2020 Paralympics, prompting organizers to clarify it was not an Olympic budget increase.

Version three of the Tokyo 2020 budget kept overall costs the same as the last version. Tokyo 2020 had touted budget cuts at the 2018 IOC Session in October, but increased spending needed to combat potential extreme weather offset the cuts.

Sakurada was appointed to lead Olympics and Paralympics Ministry after a cabinet reshuffle by Shinzo Abe. The reshuffle came after Abe shored up his political mandate through winning a new term as head of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party.

In one of his first public interviews following his appointment Sakurada said that he would "make efforts to carefully explain" government spending for Tokyo 2020, according to a Kyodo News report. Those clarifications were welcomed by Tokyo 2020.

Sakurada did not provide answers to two questions posed by ATR asking his thoughts on the "current state of the [Tokyo 2020] budget" and his intention to clarify it, and if he believed the public had confidence in the amount of money spent for the Olympics and Paralympics.

Requests for comment from a Japanese government spokesman about why the questions were left blank were not returned.

In his short time as Minister Sakurada has made multiple gaffes which have been highlighted by the Japanese press.

In November, the Asahi Shimbun reportedafter a press conference that the Minister had a "knack for giving baffling replies" to questions about the Olympics. Sakurada was asked about North Korean officials potentially attending the 2018 Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Tokyo despite a travel ban for North Korean citizens to Japan.

"I am not aware of [the report] at all, and I don’t know," Sakurada said at the time before an aide handed him a piece of paper.

"I gained knowledge of that through officials," Sakurada then said.

A week later Sakurada admitted he did not use a computer, despite pushing for a cybersecurity bill that would come into effect for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"Since the age of 25, I have instructed my employees and secretaries, so I don’t use computers myself," Sakurada told Japanese parliament, according to a report from The Guardian.

Sakurada actually addressed this quote to ATR in the written interview, saying "I make appropriate decisions by hearing advice from experts and cooperating with my staff who have knowledge of cybersecurity".

His cybersecurity bill is currently making its way through Japanese parliament, and Sakurada says the legacy of strengthening cybersecurity for the 2020 Olympics will "be continuously utilized to strengthen cybersecurity in Japan in the future".

"Cybersecurity must be ensured so that all athletes can demonstrate the best performance in the Tokyo 2020 Games at ease," Sakurada said to ATR about the efforts.

"We will facilitate various measures to ensure cybersecurity such as promotion of risk management of critical service operators and establishment of incident response structure for the Tokyo 2020 Games."

Sakurada says his bill would bring together both the public and private sector "to work to build a new system" to allow for better knowledge sharing of cybersecurity in Japan.

When it comes to the Olympics, Sakurada said that the ongoing preparations are being done so that Tokyo 2020 is a success. However, success of the Olympics and Paralympics is not the only mandate for Sakurada’s time as minister.

"At the same time I am aiming at establishment of sports culture and promotion of regional development [from Tokyo 2020]," Sakurada added. "In addition [I am] also aiming at the realizing of a society of harmonious co-existence."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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