15 things to know about Japan at the Olympics

The first Olympic Games in Tokyo took place in 1964. What’s interesting is that the Games then were held in October when the weather was more favourable compared to the July-August period when the city is notorious for its humid and searing heat.

The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo marked the very first Games held in Asia. It was followed by the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. The Tokyo 2020 Games will be the fourth Olympics held in Japan – this makes Tokyo the only Asian city to host the Summer Games twice.

Tokyo will also play host to the Paralympic Games from August 24 to September 5, roughly two weeks after the Olympics. This makes Tokyo the first and only city to have hosted the Paralympic Games for a second time (the first was in 1964).

In 1936, Tokyo was promoted as the host for the 1940 Olympics but it was rescheduled due to World War II. Helsinki was set to be the back-up host city, but those plans also fell through due to the war and the Games were ultimately abandoned.

Four new Olympic sports will make their debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games: karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. You can try out the sports for yourself at these sport centres in Tokyo. Baseball and softball, which have been absent from the Olympics since 2008, are making a comeback at this year’s Games.

The elegant Japan National Stadium is one of the many Olympic venues you should visit in Tokyo. A design by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid was initially chosen for the stadium but her plans were scrapped for Kengo Kuma's more cost-efficient design. The stadium comes in at just under 200,000sqm in size and cost ¥157 billion to build.

In true Kengo Kuma fashion, the stadium features wood on both the exterior and interior. As an ode to Japan, the wood is sourced from all of Japan's 47 prefectures. The architect has described the structure as a 'living tree', built in a way to maximise the breeze flowing through the stadium in order to rely less on air conditioning.

To promote sustainability, this year’s Olympics are repurposing a number of the venues used in the 1964 Games. Moreover, items such as podiums, uniforms and medals are all made from recycled materials. Even the beds at the Olympic Village are made from cardboard, which will be recycled after the Games.

Ahead of the Games, people in Japan were asked to donate their disused electronics such as mobile phones to contribute to the production of the Olympic and Paralympic medals. The collection drive spanned two years between April 2017 and March 2019, resulting in approximately 78,985 tonnes of old devices collected by local municipalities and around 6.21 million mobile phones collected by NTT Docomo shops.

The stunning torch used for the Tokyo Olympic Torch Relay was designed to resemble cherry blossoms – a renowned symbol of Japan. The relay began in March this year to coincide with the cherry blossom season and has travelled all across Japan. The torch is made from a single sheet of metal for a smooth and seamless design using the same advanced technology that produces the shinkansen trains.

The Olympic and Paralympic mascots were chosen by 16,769 elementary school children who voted on their favourite designs. The Olympic mascot, known as Miraitowa, is designed with the classic Japanese indigo blue. The Paralympic mascot, on the other hand, is known as Someity, which features the same pink as Japan's famous cherry blossoms.