Wikivoyage:Past events/Tokyo 2020


 * The Tokyo article provides a more comprehensive guide to those visiting the city.

The Games of the XXXII Olympiad, the 2020 Summer Olympics, were held in Tokyo from 23 July to 8 August 2021, having been postponed from 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. They were followed by the Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September 2021. Some events were held in other locations throughout Japan.

Tokyo was the only Asian city to have hosted two summer Olympics, having previously hosted the games in 1964.

For the first time, climbing, karate, skateboarding and surfing were featured at the Olympics, while others like baseball and softball made their return after being dropped from the 2012 Olympics.

Tickets
If you bought a ticket, you should be able to get a refund. In some cases fees may not be refunded, though.

Accommodation
It's best to be within easy reach of Minato or Odaiba for the Olympic Park, but the cheaper hostels area at Asakusa is not far either. Cheap and plentiful accommodation can be found in prefectures surrounding Tokyo, so if you don't mind the trade-off of 30–60 minutes of commute, you can still plan an Olympics trip even if accommodation seems to be otherwise prohibitively expensive or hard to find. Examples can include looking at hotels near stations on a single train line into Tokyo, such as in central Saitama (prefecture), southern Ibaraki, or the area in Chiba (prefecture) between Tokyo and Narita. Southern Chiba and western Kanagawa would likely be too far to consider for most people as a daily commute to the games.

Get in
General information about traveling to Tokyo appears in the Tokyo article.

Get around
General information about getting around Tokyo appears in the Tokyo article.

Driving in Tokyo is usually a bad idea, and during the Olympics it will probably be impossible to find any parking vacancy in the whole city. Just use the train/metro system, which is used to huge crowds. The train/metro system is the most efficient way to travel in Tokyo. It is also good fun planning the routes.

See
Most of the games will probably be shown on your favourite TV channel, or on some other one available. There are probable big screens at some locations allowing a more social event, in regions where the COVID-19 situation is under control.

Where
Most events will take place in Tokyo or close to it, with three further cities holding some football games and a fourth hosting some baseball and softball games:
 * Fukushima, about 90 minutes north of Tokyo.
 * Kashima, about 90 minutes northeast of Tokyo.
 * Sendai, two hours north of Tokyo.
 * Sapporo, in the very north of Japan.

Venues in Tokyo, near Yoyogi:

Venues in Tokyo, near the Imperial Palace:

Venues in Tokyo, around Ariake:

Venues in Tokyo, around Sea Forest (海の森)

Venues in Tokyo, around Dream Island (夢の島):

Venues in Musashino, one hour from the Tokyo center:

Other venues one hour from the Tokyo center:

Venues in further cities:

Calendar
Some events have been postponed because of a typhoon in the area.

Olympics
The original schedule was from 22 July to 9 August 2020. To postpone the Olympics until 2021, all events were delayed by 364 days (one day less than a full year to preserve the same days of the week), giving a new schedule of 21 July to 8 August 2021.


 * All times and dates use Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Paralympics
The Olympic Games will be followed two weeks later with the Summer Paralympic Games from 24 August to 5 September 2021. Most of the Paralympic events will be held in the same venues as the Olympics.

To postpone the Paralympics until 2021, all events were delayed by 364 days (one day less than a full year to preserve the same days of the week), giving a new schedule of 24 August to 9 September 2021.


 * All times and dates use Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Do
Tokyo has many other attractions, which are worth checking between the two games.

Buy
Some of the most popular shopping sites in Tokyo include:
 * Akihabara, Tokyo's Electric Town, is the center of the electronics stores, and the stores along Chuo-dori are packed to the rafters with anime (animation) and manga (comics)
 * the Antique Mall in Ginza or the Antique Market in Omotesando
 * Shinjuku has the camera stores
 * Shibuya and neighboring Harajuku are the best-known shopping areas for funky, youthful clothes and accessories
 * Kappabashi Street near Asakusa, also known as “Kitchen Town” is lined with stores selling all kinds of kitchen wares
 * Ochanomizu has what must be the world’s densest collection of guitar shops, and plenty of other musical instruments are available
 * Nakamise in Asakusa and the Oriental Bazaar in Omotesando stock all the kitschy things like kanji-emblazoned T-shirts, foreigner-sized kimono, ninja outfits for kids and ersatz samurai swords
 * Ueno's Ameyoko and Yanaka Ginza in the Shitamachi Taito district are good neighborhood shopping streets

Eat
If you want a break from the food available at the Olympic Park, head for the neighbouring Odaiba, Shinbashi, Daimon, where plenty of Japanese and other options are available.

Stay safe
The summer heat in Tokyo can be debilitating. While you are unlikely to suffer from heat stroke compared to the competing athletes, try to stay hydrated and stay in the shade if you are outdoors.

Go next

 * Hakone
 * Kyoto
 * Osaka
 * Seoul
 * Past events/Rio 2016 – previous Summer Olympics
 * Past events/Pyeongchang 2018 – previous Winter Olympics
 * Beijing 2022 – next Winter Olympics
 * Paris 2024 – next Summer Olympics