Olympic Legacies: Lessons from the 1998 Winter Olympics

• In Event: Moving Forward?: A Critical Examination of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in Japan

Abstract

This presentation will discuss the significant changes that cities and regions in Japan experience when hosting the Olympic Games, and how people in those areas have addressed such changes. The 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games are the most recent (of three) Olympics to be held in Japan. Over fifteen years later, we are now able to examine the lasting effects of the Games on the host city. Interestingly, documents analyzing the economic impact of the development of athletic facilities and local infrastructure are difficult to come by at best. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has outlined rules for “sustainable Olympic legacies,” and requires the evaluation of the impacts on the host city over a 20-year period. However, it is clear that the IOC expects to learn only of the positive impacts on the host city, and thus negative impacts are conspicuously absent from most official records. Looking forward to the 2020 Games in Tokyo, we can learn much about the impact that the event can have on the host city by closely examining changes that took place after the Nagano Olympics. My research has uncovered that 1) the amount of outstanding city bonds in Nagano increased over four times after the Olympic Games and remain at unusually high levels; 2) maintenance costs for the athletic facilities are high and put significant pressure on city finances; 3) the economic effects of hosting the Olympic games are unclear; and 4) the Olympics changed the residents’ consciousness regarding volunteer activities for sports events.

Author

• Yuji Ishizaka, Nara Women's University