When it won its bid in 2013, the Tokyo metropolitan government estimated the cost to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games would come to 734 billion yen ($6.73 billion).

That figure has since ballooned to 1,644 billion yen, a more than two-fold increase.

The three parties obliged to foot the tab for both events held a year behind schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic are the Tokyo metropolitan government, the central government and the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee.

The share for the Tokyo metropolitan government is 717 billion yen, the figure for the central government is 221 billion yen and that for the organizing committee is 706 billion yen.

Fifty-seven percent of the sum, 938 billion yen, will be covered by taxpayer money.

The remainder was supposed to be funded by income from sponsors and sales of tickets, according to initial plans.

But the global pandemic that flared early last year changed everything.

The Games, in principle, were held without spectators as a precaution against spreading the novel coronavirus. This meant that almost all the anticipated revenue from tickets sales, estimated at 90 billion yen, did not materialize.

What now seems certain is that more taxpayer money must be injected to cover the entire costs of the massive sports events that ended last in the red.

After determining the final figure, the three parties will have to figure out their respective shares of the financial burden.

But mutual finger-pointing to shirk from responsibility has already begun.

The central government is set to get the metropolitan government to pick up the tab.

This is because the candidature file submitted to the International Olympic Committee included a pledge by the metropolitan government to cover the difference when the organizing body ran out of funds.

The problem is there has been a sea change in Tokyo’s financial standing since 2013. When Tokyo sought to host the Olympics, it was flush with cash--courtesy of a steady stream of corporate enterprise tax pouring into its coffers.

But since the pandemic hit early last year, the metropolitan government has spent more than 5 trillion yen to fight the public health crisis alone.

The Tokyo government has no intention of backing down in its demand for the central government to share the burden, according to a senior metropolitan official.

“Our finances are in dire straits,” the official said. “We will negotiate hard.”

It is difficult to demarcate what constitutes a legitimate expense and what does not with respect to the cost of holding the Olympics as there are no clear-cut rules on the matter.

“It can be made to look larger or smaller,” a ranking official of the organizing committee said.

For example, the metropolitan government listed 734.9 billion yen as Olympics-related spending, which is not counted as a direct cost.

The 734.9 billion yen was used to pave roads with heat insulation for athletes and for other programs.

The logic behind classifying the expenditure as an Olympic-related category is that it “will benefit Tokyo residents even after the Summer Games are over,” said an individual who is familiar with the matter.

Against this backdrop lies increasing pressure from the ICO that organizers should present lower figures for the overall cost.

But the fact remains that a massive sum of money was additionally spent that is not included in the 1,644 billion yen deemed to be the direct cost for staging the Olympics.

The central government provided 221 billion yen in funds in the category of direct cost, according to information it publicly disclosed.

It also paid an additional undisclosed sum in relation to the Olympics.

The Board of Audit of Japan stated two years ago that the central government had spent 1.06 trillion yen in Olympic-related outlays.

This suggests that the overall sum of money injected will top 3 trillion yen.

Still, some officials contend that figure is an underestimate.

The Tokyo metropolitan government, the central government and the organizing committee are each expected to work in the coming months to settle their accounts regarding the Olympics.

Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, said at a Sept. 6 news conference that the committee plans to compile an outline of the financial results by March.

This will ensure that breakdowns of the 1,644 billion yen that the authorities acknowledged as expenditures for the Olympics will come to light.

However, skeptics say the entire scope of the spending will not be revealed, despite Muto’s announcement. 

“There will remain a ‘black box,’” said a central government official.

Most of the contracts awarded by the organizing committee are not subject to public disclosure, raising doubts about the committee’s willingness to fulfill its accountability.

The metropolitan government is due to present a report on its spending to a special committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics that is tasked with examining such details. The committee is expected to be held by the year-end.

Based on the special committee’s findings, the full picture of the metropolitan government’s expenditures should come to light in January, at the earliest.

As for the central government's share, the issue will be debated in the Diet. The Board of Audit will conduct its own checks.

The final results of the overall costs of the Olympics and Paralympics will likely be published in the latter half of 2022, only after the organizing committee’s report is made public.

(This story was written by Daisuke Maeda, Yuki Okado and Yoshitaka Ito.)