1. Use the Paralympics to realize a truly mature city

Turn the clock back 60 years to 1960. A young Japanese doctor visits a hospital on the outskirts of London to study rehabilitation therapy. What he sees there are patients in wheelchairs playing basketball and working up a sweat. Impressed by what he saw at that hospital he devoted himself to popularizing disabled sports in Japan. That man was Dr. Nakamura Yutaka, known as the “father” of Japan’s Paralympics.

Bringing sports and persons with disabilities together was a great challenge at a time when the predominant view was that persons with disabilities should be recuperating. Dr. Nakamura’s passion, which led to the first sporting event in Japan for persons with disabilities and the first Japanese athletes taking part in an international tournament, helped to realize the Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games, where the word “Paralympics” was used for the first time. Nakamura took the opportunity presented by the Tokyo Games to push for people with disabilities advancing into society by establishing employment facilities, partnering up with companies, and other initiatives. At a time when Japan was undergoing rapid economic growth, steady advances were also being made for a society where anyone, regardless of whether or not they have a disability, could play an active role in society, embracing their individuality and desires.

We, who are striving to use the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a springboard for Tokyo’s further evolution as a city that achieves a balance between maturity and growth, must remember the bold challenges that were taken up at that time. If the 1964 Paralympics were the first step toward a society where persons with disabilities could shine, then the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games must be an event to further advance initiatives for an inclusive society, such as thoroughly establishing a barrier-free society both in tangible and intangible forms, where people support each other. Speaking at last month’s Panel for the Success of the Paralympics and Promotion of Accessibility, honorary advisor Mr. Tanigaki Sadakazu said, “What kind of society will we create? We cannot let our efforts end with the end of the Games.” After the Paralympic Games, unless we continue with our initiatives put in place for a better society, it won’t be possible for us to realize a truly mature society.

This time’s Tokyo Games must also be one that will further boost the value of the Paralympics. For a time after the 1964 Tokyo Games, the Paralympics were not held in the same city as the Olympic Games. It was only 32 years ago that the world began taking greater note of the Paralympics when they were once again held in the same city as the Olympics at the Seoul Summer Games in 1988. Which is precisely why Tokyo, as the first city to host the Summer Paralympic Games for a second time, is making thorough preparations for athletes and spectators to come together and generate excitement and inspiration never before experienced to ensure a Paralympics that will leave a deep impression on the world. This is my strong wish.