Push Admin

Olympics: New director picked for 'restrained' Tokyo Olympic ceremonies

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<p>Organisers of the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics said Wednesday they have picked a new creative director to redesign &quot;simpler and more restrained&quot; opening and closing ceremonies for next year&#x27;s Games.</p><p>The mammoth task will fall to advertising executive Hiroshi Sasaki, who helped produce the ceremony handing over the Games from Rio to Tokyo -- famously featuring then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a character from the Super Mario video game.</p><p>Organisers said the decision to replace a previous seven-person creative team would improve efficiency as reshape the traditionally lavish and spectacular ceremonies to be &quot;in tune with the situation.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The ceremonies will still be a great celebration to be enjoyed by the athletes and watching world but will likely take a simpler and more restrained approach designed to reflect the overall simplification of the Games and the potential need to still consider Covid-19 countermeasures,&quot; organisers said in a statement.</p><p>Sasaki replaces a team led by Mansai Nomura, a master of traditional Kyogen comic theatre who had pledged to produce ceremonies &quot;rich in Japanese spirit.&quot;</p><p>Sasaki designed the stripped-back event organisers held in July to mark the new year-to-go until the postponed Games.</p><p>That saw Japanese swimmer and leukaemia survivor Rikako Ikee appear in a darkened and empty stadium clutching the Olympic flame in a lantern, which organisers said was reflective of the principles that would guide the redesigned ceremonies.</p><p>&quot;It is appropriate to make ceremonial events and programmes simpler and have them in some way reflect and respect the world&#x27;s experience of the Covid-19 pandemic,&quot; they said.</p><p>Speaking to reporters, Sasaki said he still remembered watching as a child the opening ceremony for the 1964 Olympics, the first time Tokyo hosted the Summer Games, and had enjoyed the traditionally lavish events opening and closing the sporting event.</p><p>&quot;But now these flashy extravagant ceremonies are considered as too much and we must think of this time as an opportunity to change due to Covid-19, or rather thanks to Covid-19,&quot; he said.</p><p>He conceded that he has not made much progress yet on the direction of the new ceremonies, but said they would emphasise the theme of the Games serving as the &quot;light at the end of the tunnel&quot; after the pandemic.</p><p>Organisers are pressing ahead with preparations for the postponed Games, announcing a new budget, test event schedule and coronavirus countermeasures in recent weeks.</p><p>But public opinion in Japan remains opposed to holding the event next year, with a majority favouring a further delay or outright cancellation.</p><p>Organisers announced Wednesday that they have received requests for refunds of around 200,000 tickets for Paralympic events sold in Japan, about 21 percent of the total.</p><p>Earlier in the month they announced refund requests for around 18 percent of tickets sold domestically for Olympic events.</p><p>Fans who bought tickets overseas have to apply separately for refunds in their countries, and no figures for those have been made available.</p><div><strong>sah/dh</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KRwIKZdywWI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Organisers of the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics said Wednesday they have picked a new creative director to redesign "simpler and more restrained" opening and closing ceremonies for next year's Games.</p>

Organisers of the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics said Wednesday they have picked a new creative director to redesign "simpler and more restrained" opening and closing ceremonies for next year's Games.