Culture

Tokyo Will Host the 2020 Summer Olympics

The International Olympic Committee decided that Tokyo, Japan would be the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics games on Saturday during meetings in Buenos Aries, Argentina.

By Connor Simpson
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This article is from the archive of our partner .

The International Olympic Committee decided that Tokyo, Japan would be the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics games on Saturday during meetings in Buenos Aries, Argentina.

Tokyo beat out two other cities -- Madrid, Spain and Istanbul, Turkey -- to earn the right to host the Olympics, which will bring in millions and millions of revenue for the city and its surrounding area. Madrid was the first city eliminated after a close run off against Istanbul, with the Turkish capital winning by a 49-45 vote. IOC members then chose between Istanbul and Tokyo.

The competition gets fiercer every year between communicating municipalities for the prestige, and the cash, that comes with hosting an Olympic games. The financial benefits are undeniable.

But there were obstacles Tokyo had to overcome before earning the right to the Olympic pot of gold that awaits them. The Fukushima nuclear disaster -- and the ensuing, bungled clean up -- put Tokyo's chances seemingly at risk. But the concerns over holding the games in Turkey after the recent upheaval and protests were even greater. The benefits of holding the games in Tokyo -- where there's already a thriving economic pillow supporting the games -- won out in the end and produced a massively one-sided vote.

As soon as the announcement was made, some people had ideas for mascots:

Others noticed this had been foretold by the great seers of our time:

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.