Summary:
In summer 2020, Tokyo was meant to be at the centre of the world’s attention as host city of the greatest media spectacle of modernity, the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more than a decade, Japan prepared for the rare opportunity of communicating ideas about itself and visions about its future to domestic and global audiences. This chapter demonstrates how the political economy of sports mega-events has been shaping Japan’s embracing of the sporting event. Despite being drafted prior to the events in question, it provides some answers to the following questions: who thrives on the Games as business, who benefits from the Games as media platform and who is likely to pay the bill?
“The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: The cultural political economy of hosting the world”, Hiroko Takeda and Mark Williams (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Japan. London/New York: Routledge 2020, pp. 427-440. DOI: 10.4324/9781315544748-32
About the Book:
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Japan presents a synthesized, interdisciplinary study of contemporary Japan based on up-to-date theoretical models designed to provide readers with a comprehensive and full understanding of the dynamics of contemporary Japan. In order to achieve this, the Handbook is organized into two parts. Part I, ‘Foundations’, clarifies the state of contemporary Japan topic by topic by referring to the latest theoretical developments in the relevant disciplinary fields of politics, international relations, economy, society, culture and the personal. Part II, ‘Issues’, then offers a series of concrete analyses building upon the theoretical discussions introduced in Part I to help undergraduate and postgraduate students learn how to conduct independent analysis.
Locating Japan in a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective, this Handbook is an essential resource for students and scholars interested in Japanese studies, Asian studies and global studies.
Bibliographic Data:
Title: Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Japan
Edited by: Hiroko Takeda, Mark Williams
Edition: 1st Edition
First Published: 2020
eBook Published: 21 September 2020
Pub. location: London
Imprint: Routledge
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315544748
Pages: 532 pages
eBook: ISBN9781315544748
Subjects: Area Studies
