Photo/Illutration Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki, left, meets with Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto on Oct. 27. (Jun Hasegawa)

SAPPORO--The city of Sapporo’s hopes of hosting the Winter Olympics in 2038 were dashed after hugely popular Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki called on the municipal government to scrap the idea.

Sapporo had been wrestling with holding the Games in either 2030 or 2034 but was met with public indifference because of corruption scandals that dogged the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It held on to 2038 as a possibility and was counting on Suzuki’s support.

However, Suzuki met with Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto on Oct. 27 and suggested that all lobbying efforts cease at once.

“I believe we need to take a pause from all this activity,” Suzuki said. “There is a need for discussions among all interested parties about how the hosting process should be pushed after considering the significance and effects of holding the Winter Olympics.”

Since 2014, Hokkaido had been working side by side with the Sapporo municipal government to bring back the Winter Olympics to the main northern island. This is the first time for Hokkaido authorities to ask that campaigning to host the sports spectacle be suspended.

The move is in response to public distrust over scandals connected to the Tokyo Summer Games as well as recent moves by the International Olympic Committee that have made it all but impossible for Sapporo to hold the Games in either 2030 or 2034.

In his meeting with Suzuki, Akimoto admitted that holding the Games in 2030 or 2034 was very difficult but added that he wanted to hold discussions with interested parties about hosting the Winter Olympics in 2038.

But Suzuki pointed out that the current plan Sapporo has for hosting the Games would have to be vastly revised because the IOC has also raised the possibility of holding Winter Games in 2038 and beyond on a rotational basis among a select number of cities.

The Sapporo municipal government had placed high hopes on Suzuki’s support, given his huge popularity in Hokkaido.

But since autumn 2022, Suzuki has placed greater distance between himself and the campaign to host the Winter Olympics. His comments at news conferences have become more cautious about bringing the Games to Hokkaido.

(This article was written by Osamu Hiura and Jun Hasegawa.)

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