In July 2020, Japan will host its fourth Olympic and Paralympic Games. As the largest sporting event in the world, the Olympics have come under increasing pressure to be events that are not only spectacular, safe, and smoothly run, but also that leave a “positive legacy.” Host cities and the IOC have long shared a concern that the Olympics should benefit the host city, and have placed “legacy” and later the environment at the heart of the Olympic movement.

Particularly in the post-War era, organizers have used the Olympics as an engine for change, integrating Olympics-related developments into broader urban planning and infrastructure projects – nowhere was this more evident than in Tokyo in 1964 and again today as Tokyo prepares for the 2020 event. My presentation will consider both rhetorical and actual historical examples of Olympic legacy in Japan as they relate specifically to the impact of Olympic infrastructure projects on Japan’s natural environment.

As the world prepares to turn its collective gaze on Tokyo next summer, it is imperative that critical studies of the historic impact of Olympic projects be carried out. Research for this project is being conducted during the summer of 2019 at the University of Tsukuba, where I will be affiliated as a Fulbright scholar for six months.