Five venues built by the Tokyo metropolitan government for the Summer Olympic Games have attracted only 60 percent of the targeted number of visitors since the sports extravaganza ended in 2021.

The metropolitan government has spent nearly 1 billion yen ($6.6 million) a year on maintenance costs for the five venues, as expected.

But if attendance remains low, and unexpected expenses arise, more taxpayer money could be poured in.

The venues and the metropolitan government are making efforts to increase their use and capitalize on them as “Olympic legacies.”

The Tokyo Aquatics Center and the five other venues in the capital’s Rinkai waterfront district cost 137.5 billion yen to build ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A consortium led by Dentsu Inc. was granted rights to operate one of them: the Ariake Arena.

The metropolitan government explained in a management plan published in 2017 that the other five facilities would operate at an annual loss after maintenance and other costs were deducted from usage fees and other revenues.

The government said it would allocate 1.08 billion yen from its tax revenue to cover the deficit.

According to the plan, the government aimed to attract a total of 1.683 million visitors to the five facilities a year.

Documents released by the metropolitan government in August this year showed it paid 920 million yen to manage the five facilities in fiscal 2024, basically falling in line with its expectations.

However, the venues attracted a total of 993,640 visitors a year, falling far short of the target.

The number of visitors at the Canoe Slalom Center was about 62,000, or about 60 percent of its target.

“It is open to the general public,” said an official in charge of facility management. “But it was widely accepted at first that the facility was ‘only open to professional athletes.’”

The Sea Forest Waterway, where rowing and canoe events were held, attracts about 96,000 users, or less than 30 percent of its target.

The facility also faces problems from oysters attaching themselves to a device that buffers against waves.

“The oysters damage boats, and seawater causes vessels to deteriorate,” an expert in rowing sports said, adding that few bus services connect the venue and nearby train stations.

The metropolitan government has spent more than 600 million yen to remove oysters and take other cleanup measures. It is expected to continue spending an annual average of 70 million yen.

Each facility has taken steps to attract visitors.

The Canoe Slalom Center promotes itself at local elementary schools.

The Aquatics Center offers free shuttle bus services connecting train stations in the surrounding area on days when the facility is open to the public.

LEGACY FACILITIES

The Ariake Arena has served as the venue for international sports competitions, live concerts and other events.

The 25-year contract to operate the facility from 2022 to 2047 was sold for about 9.38 billion yen.

When the arena operates in the black, the metropolitan government splits the profits in half with Dentsu.

In fiscal 2023, the government earned about 130 million yen from the contract.

“When the proceeds from the sale of the contract for the Ariake Arena are included, the metropolitan government only spent about 410 million yen (on the five facilities),” an official said. “This amount is not a deficit but a commission fee, and (the facilities are) maintained to improve the quality of life of residents, just like expenses spent on parks and large facilities.”

The official said the facilities are used for many purposes, and visitor numbers have been steadily increasing.

“They have earned widespread recognition as the legacies of the Games,” the official said.

CALLS FOR VERIFICATION

Olympics-related facilities in Japan have always faced challenges on how to maintain and use them after the Games.

Since fiscal 2018, no ice has been laid down at the facility used for bobsled and other events during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics due to dwindling participants and high maintenance costs.

Yuji Ishizaka, a professor of sports sociology at Nara Women’s University, said the sports culture scene and local communities would lose vibrancy if municipal governments were to label the facilities as a “waste of money” and stop spending on maintaining and building public sports venues.

He also said the Tokyo metropolitan government must verify and explain the satisfaction and awareness levels of each facility among residents.

“It’s up to the local community that accepted the facility and not the metropolitan government to recognize whether it has been ‘widely accepted as a legacy,’” Ishizaka said. “If it is not actively used by locals, it would be viewed as a ‘burden that bleeds red ink.’”

(This article was written by Eriko Nami and Eiichiro Nakamura.)