Shops, parks and timber plazas: Olympic village welcomes world
Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics opened the athletes’ village to the media on Sunday, showing off apartments and a timber-laced shopping plaza where 11,000 athletes would stay and mingle during the sporting extravaganza.
The once-delayed Games are due to start on July 23 amid concern that the influx of thousands of people from around the world would contribute to the spread of Covid-19.
Japan has avoided the kind of explosive outbreaks that crippled many other countries. But its vaccination programme has been slow and the medical system pushed to the brink in parts of the country. The government’s drive to hold the Games has been criticised by hospitals and doctors’ unions.
Underscoring the concern, a Ugandan athlete arriving in Japan late on Saturday for a preparation camp ahead of the Olympics was found to be infected with the virus, public broadcaster NHK said. Athletes will be shuttled in and out of the village and be tested for the coronavirus every day.
Olympic rules ban singing and chanting during events, with masks required at almost all times.
THE SHOPPING AREA FEATURES
an ATM, dry cleaner, post office, bank and courier counter
THE 2.4 BILLION YEN ($22 MILLION) SHOPPING AREA was made from 40,000 pieces of timber donated by 63 Japanese municipal governments THE APARTMENT COMPLEX abutting the shopping plaza was built on reclaimed land and designed to house about 12,000 people in 23 buildings. It includes shops, a park and a school. The buildings will be converted into flats after the Olympics
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOUSING PROJECT cost the Tokyo government 54 billion yen, including road work and infrastructure