The Unofficial Guide to Tokyo Olympics 2020

By Kiru | Posted on

This is the unofficial guide to Tokyo Olympics 2020, here you can find out about the games that will be played, information about tickets and preparations for the Olympics. If you would like to if there are any events in Tokyo visit here

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Olympics sign

Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Olympics will be held in Japan in 2020 and most of us have heard how busy the trains are going to be around that time because of the Olympics and tourists entering Japan. It will be hard to go to work by train and even impossible to get there on time. I have even heard that companies are starting to work from home to test and find solutions to any issues they face. The Olympics is a well known sensational event and Japan is looking forward to the Olympics, I have even seen many banners of the Tokyo Olympics mascots Miraitowa and Someity around the airport, roads and train stations. 

Let’s look into Tokyo Olympics 2020. The opening ceremony will be on Friday 24 July and the ending ceremony will be on Sunday 9 August, the ceremonies are usually around 2 and a half hours. The ceremony involves lighting up a fire torch and countries either dance or reenact their countries sacrifices and struggles and their growth. The Olympic stadiums are filled with lights, sounds and sometimes even light shows. The opening and closing ceremony is just as fun as the whole Olympic games so do not miss this extravagant sight! 

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Venues

Here we have provided a list of sports venues and dates to help you know all the locations where the sports will be happening. We have even included the closest station to the venue so that you do not need to waste time trying to find information. Keep a lookout for the dates because many of the sports are happening on the same day. The Olympics will begin on Friday 24 July and end on the Sunday 8 August 2020. 

Tennis 25/07/2020 - 02/08/2020 Ariake Tennis park Kokusai-tenjijo station Ariake station Ariake-tennis-no-mori station
Table Tennis 25/07/2020 - 07/08/2020 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Sendagaya Station Kokuritsu Kyougijo Station
Handball 25/07/2020 - 09/08/2020 Yoyogi National Stadium Harajuku station
Shooting 25/07/2020- 03/08/2020 Asaka shooting range Wakoshi station Asaka station
Karate 06/08/2020 - 08/08/2020 Nippon Budokan Judo Kudanshita station
Athletics (race walk) 31/07/2020, 07/08/2020 - 09/08/2020 Imperial Palace garden Nijubashi-mae Station Otemachi Station Takebashi Station
Weightlifting 25/07/2020 - 05/08/2020 Tokyo international forum Yurakucho Station
Hockey 25/07/2020 - 02/08/2020 Oi Hockey stadium Ōikeibajōmae Station Ryūtsū Center Station Tachiaigawa Station
Boxing 25/07/2020 - 29/07/2020 Kokugikan arena Ryogoku station
Volleyball 25/07/2020-30/07/2020 Ariake Arena Ariake-tennis-no-mori station. Shin-Toyosu station Kokusai-tenjijo station Shinonome station
Gymnastics 25/07/2020 - 04/08/2020 Ariake Gymnastics Centre Kokusai-tenjijo station Ariake-tennis-no-mori station
Beach volleyball 27/07/2020 - 29/07/2020 Shiokaze Park Volleyball Daiba station. Fune-no-kagakukan station Tokyo Teleport station
Equestrian dressage, eventing and jumping 25/07/2020 - 29/07/2020, 31/07/2020 - 03/08/2020, 04/08/2020 - 08/08/2020 Equestrian park Sakura-shimmachi station Kyodo station
Badminton ,modern pentathlon (fencing) 25/07/2020 - 26/07/2020, 29/07/2020 Musashino forest sport plaza Tobitakyu station Tama station
Football, rugby, modern pentathlon (swimming, fencing, riding, laser- run) Football - 22/07/2020 - 23/07/2020 Rugby - 27/07/2020 - 01/08/2020 Modern pentathlon - 06/08/2020 - 08/08/2020 Tokyo stadium Tobitakyu station Tama station
Cycling ( Road ( road race: start) 25/07/2020 - 26/07/2020, 29/07/2020 Musashinonomori park Nishi Chofu station
Archery 24/07/2020 - 01/08/2020 Yumenoshima Park Archery Field Shin-kiba station
Cycling (BMX freestyle, BMX Racing), skateboarding 01/08/2020 - 02/08/2020 Ariake urban sports park Kokusai-tenjijo station
Aquatics ( marathon swimming) Triathlon 05/08/2020 - 06/08/2020 Odaiba marine park Daiba station Odaiba-kaihinkoen station Tokyo Teleport station
Basketball (3x3 basketball) Sport climbing 25/07/2020 - 29/07/2020 Aomi urban sports park Aomi station Fune-no-kagakukan station
Equestrian (Eventing, (Cross country) Eventing - 02/08/2020 Sea Forest Cross-Country course Take bus from Tokyo Teleport station on Rikai Line.
Canoe (Sprint), Rowing Canoe sprint 03/08/2020 - 08/08/2020 Rowing 24/07/2020 - 31/07/2020 Sea forest waterway Take bus from Tokyo Teleport station
Canoe (Slalom) 26/07/2020 - 31/07/2020 Kasai Canoe slalom centre Kasairinkaikoen station
Aquatics (swimming, diving, artistic swimming) 25/07/2020 - 28/07/2020 Tokyo Aquatics centre Tatsumi station Shiomi station Shin-kiba station
Aquatics (water polo) 25/07/2020 - 31/07/2020 Tatsumi water polo centre Tatsumi station Shin-kiba station

Here I have provided a list of venues that are not too far from Tokyo. Check out the table below for the sports that will be in venues outside of Tokyo and also the nearest station. 

Women's Football first round matches 22/07/2020 25/07/2020 25/07/2020 28/07/2020 28/07/2020 28/07/2020 Sapporo dome Miyagi stadium Saitama stadium Miyagi stadium Saitama stadium International stadium Yokohama Fukuzumi station Sendai station Urawa misono station Sendai station Urawa misono station Shin- Yokohama station
Women's Quarterfinal 31/07/2020 31/07/2020 31/07/2020 31/07/2020 Kashima stadium Saitama stadium Miyagi stadium International stadium Yokohama Kashima Soccer stadium station Urawa misono station Sendai station Shin- Yokohama station
Women semifinal 03/08/2020 03/08/2020 Kashima stadium International stadium Yokohama Shin- Yokohama station Kashima Soccer stadium station
Men Football First Round 23/07/2020 23/07/2020 26/07/2020 26/07/2020 26/07/2020 28/07/2020 29/07/2020 Sapporo dome International stadium Yokohama Kashima stadium Saitama stadium International stadium Yokohama Saitama stadium International stadium Yokohama Fukuzumi station Shin- Yokohama station Kashima Soccer stadium station Urawa misono station Shin- Yokohama station Urawa misono station Shin- Yokohama station
Mens Quarterfinal 29/07/2020 01/08/2020 01/08/2020 01/08/2020 Miyagi stadium Miyagi stadium Saitama stadium International stadium Yokohama Sendai station Sendai station Urawa misono station Shin- Yokohama station
Men's Football semi final 04/08/2020 04/08/2020 06/08/2020 Kashima stadium Saitama stadium Kashima stadium Kashima Soccer stadium station Urawa misono station Kashima Soccer stadium station
Men's Bronze Medal Match 07/08/2020 Saitama stadium Urawa misono station
Men's Gold Medal Match 08/08/2020 International stadium Yokohama Shin- Yokohama station
Basketball 26/07/2020 - 09/08/2020 Saitama super arena Saitama-Shintoshin Station
Golf 30/07/2020 - 08/08/2020 Kasumigaseki country club Kasahata station
Sailing 27/07/2020 - 05/08/2020 Enoshima Yacht harbour Katase-Enoshima” Station “Enoshima” Station
Cycling (track) 03/08/2020 - 09/08/2020 Izu velodrome Shuzenji station
Cycling (mountain bike) 27/07/2020 - 28/07/2020 Izu MTB course Shuzenji station
Taekwondo, Wrestling 25/07/2020 - 28/07/2020 Makuhari Messe hall A Kaihimmakuhari station
(Cycling )road( road race: Finish, individual time trail) 25/07/2020 - 26/07/2020, 29/07/2020 Fuji International speedway If you are travelling on weekdays, get the bus a Gotenba station called Fujikyuko Bus get off at Speedway East Gate. If you are travelling on weekend, get the Fujikyuko Bus and get off at Speedway East Gate.
Baseball/softball 29/07/2020 Fukushima Azuma Baseball stadium Take the Tohoku Expressway and arrive by car or to arrive by bus from JR Fukushima station take The bus going towards Sabara or Shikinosato and get off at Azuma Sogo Taiikukan or Azuma Rikujyo Kyogijyo].
Baseball/softball 30/07/2020 - 08/08/2020 Yokohama Baseball stadium Kannai station Ishikawacho station Nihon-Odori station

You can find more information about the venues here: Tokyo 2020 Venues and more information about transport to the venues here: Tokyo Competition Venue. This website provides the easiest way to travel by car, bus and train and you can specifically see which venues will be used for which sport.

If you are interested in the Paralympics schedules visit Paralympics Competition Schedule 2020

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Tickets

The Olympics costs have changed a lot over the past few years and some countries have paid a huge amount of money compared to other countries. The Olympics is becoming an expensive event and only a few countries are interested in holding the Olympics in their countries because they do not want to face financial burdens. Russia to date has spent an incredible amount of $50 billion in 2014 for the winter games. Beijing follows Russia by being the second country which has contributed $40 billion for the summer 2008 Olympics. If you want to know more about the top 10 of the most expensive Olympics visit here

Now back to Tokyo Olympics 2020, in 2013 Tokyo submitted its application to be the next location to host the Olympics 2020 and they submitted a questionnaire and went up to the qualifying round, then a vote was done between the qualified countries. In 2013, Tokyo announced they would spend an estimated cost of 730 billion yen ($6.6 billion) but now the estimated costs have increased to 1.4 trillion yen ($12.6 billion). Tokyo 2020 organizers have made their statement that their budget covers information systems, transportation for athletes, facilities, the cost for opening and closing ceremonies and also athletes village. The budget does not even cover the construction of the new stadium or security measures so they would need to get more money to be able to fund the Olympics. The Tokyo 2020 organizers will contribute 600 billion yen ($5.4 billion) and the government will give 150 billion ($1.4 billion) but the rest of the costs will either be paid by taxpayers or they will try to find suitable sponsors. They have even tried to lower costs by creating uniforms using recycled materials for the opening and closing ceremonies. The International Olympics Committee has made a new rule that will apply to the Paris 2024 Olympics which is to start using the facilities they already have instead of building new facilities and this should help reduce some of the cost at least and make more countries interested to host the Olympics in their country. 

If Tickets are unavailable

There might be a case where you might not be able to get Tokyo Olympics 2020 tickets but this is like a worst-case scenario, you could potentially get your hands on the tickets but if you can not let’s look at alternative options. The best option would be to watch the Olympic games at home, you can be comfy on your sofa have plenty of food and also be in an air-conditioned place away from all the loudness and you can celebrate with all of your family and bond over the games. Another option if you do not want to watch from home is heading to a bar or restaurant since they will also be playing the games on TV and there will be more people there. Restaurants are a great place to watch events like this because they have a good vibe and the environment is very fun and loud, you can order food while enjoying the games and do not have to worry about being very loud. 

Another option would be to look for job openings for an interpreter or translation. The interpretation and translation job openings started two years ahead of the actual Tokyo  Olympics 2020 and just a few months ago they mentioned that they have recruited interpreters for the event, around 40 interpreters from Japan and 60 from overseas totaling to 100 interpreters. The Tokyo 2020 official website has recently updated their page expressing their appreciation for all the interpreters who applied for the interpretation positions and how they will let unsuccessful candidates know through their “my page account”. Although, the interpretation jobs are filled do not stress out. We found more jobs that you could apply to for the Tokyo  Olympics 2020, the sectors include customer services, client services, transportation, drivers, food and beverages, accommodations, ticketing, and operations. Find out more about the different jobs available here: 

Foreigners can also get their hands on the Olympic tickets, the good news for foreigners is that many states have their own legitimate companies that have been approved by Olympic organizers. For example, the American states can purchase Olympic tickets from Carton tours, Match hospitality, ATPI sports events or Kingdom sports groups. These are the websites that have been approved but Carton tours mention that the final ticket only phase has ended and that people can buy tickets directly from the organizing committees in spring 2020. The Tokyo Olympics 2020 does a good job of providing legitimate websites to everyone and you can limit it from the continent to each of the countries and they also provide the telephone numbers in case people would prefer to call to enquire. Tokyo Olympics 2020 provided a useful list of Tokyo 2020 Authorised Ticket Reseller List. This means that everyone can try to get your tickets without getting scammed but please remember to use these sites at your own risk. 

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Estimated costs

The Olympics costs have changed a lot over the past few years and some countries have paid a huge amount of money compared to other countries. The Olympics is becoming an expensive event and only a few countries are interested in holding the Olympics in their countries because they do not want to face financial burdens. Russia to date has spent an incredible amount of $50 billion in 2014 for the winter games. Beijing follows Russia by being the second country which has contributed $40 billion for the summer 2008 Olympics. If you want to know more about the top 10 of the most expensive Olympics visit here

Now back to Tokyo Olympics 2020, in 2013 Tokyo submitted its application to be the next location to host the Olympics 2020 and they submitted a questionnaire and went up to the qualifying round, then a vote was done between the qualified countries. In 2013, Tokyo announced they would spend an estimated cost of 730 billion yen ($6.6 billion) but now the estimated costs have increased to 1.4 trillion yen ($12.6 billion). Tokyo 2020 organizers have made their statement that their budget covers information systems, transportation for athletes, facilities, the cost for opening and closing ceremonies and also athletes village. The budget does not even cover the construction of the new stadium or security measures so they would need to get more money to be able to fund the Olympics. The Tokyo 2020 organizers will contribute 600 billion yen ($5.4 billion) and the government will give 150 billion ($1.4 billion) but the rest of the costs will either be paid by taxpayers or they will try to find suitable sponsors. They have even tried to lower costs by creating uniforms using recycled materials for the opening and closing ceremonies. The International Olympics Committee has made a new rule that will apply to the Paris 2024 Olympics which is to start using the facilities they already have instead of building new facilities and this should help reduce some of the cost at least and make more countries interested to host the Olympics in their country. 

Debit Card and Credit card - ad image

Let us help you learn Japanese

We provide the most affordable Japanese lessons in Tokyo at Japan Switch. We have branches Online and Shinjuku.

Most popular sports

The most popular sports in Japan are swimming, soccer, baseball, athletics, table tennis, judo, wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics. These sports are enjoyed by everyone and are known by Japanese people has the most popular sports. Soccer, baseball, swimming, and volleyball are the most fun to watch and play according to Japanese people and tennis and golf are preferred by adults. The Tokyo Olympics have many great sports and if we were to choose two sports that are absolutely loved by Japanese people it would be baseball and soccer. We now know the sports that Japanese people will be supporting and we can have a lookout on the media coverage of all of the sports and see which sports are mentioned more than others, let’s keep an eye out at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 together!

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Types of sports

There are many types of sports that we will be able to see at the Olympics, below I have included a table of the sports. 

Football
Tennis
Table Tennis
Handball
Basketball
Fencing
Shooting
Golf
Sailing
Cycling (track, mountain bike, road, BMX freestyle, BMX Racing, skateboarding)
Surfing
Karate
Athletics (race walk)
Weightlifting
Hockey
Boxing
Volleyball
Gymnastics
Beach volleyball
Equestrian dressage, eventing and jumping, cross country)
Modern pentathlon (swimming, fencing, riding, laser- run)
Badminton
Rugby
Archery
Aquatics (Swimming, diving, artistic swimming, water polo)
Taekwondo
Wrestling
Baseball/softball

New sports that have been added to the Tokyo Olympics 2020

Recently ahead of the Olympic games, many sports are becoming popular like baseball/softball,  karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing. Baseball is associated with being a “men's game” where there are two teams with nine players each and they each get a turn to bat which is known as offense and also blocks the team from scoring a point which is known as a defense. The aim of the game is to hit the ball with the bat and make the ball land far so that the players can go and get the ball and during this short moment the player on the opposing team will run around the circle field trying to go around the four bases, depending on whether they are out or do not make it to one of the bases, the other team wins a point. 

Similarly to baseball, softball is for women. The main differences are that women are supposed to throw underhand, the field is much smaller compared to baseball and they use a bigger ball to play. Karate is a sport where you play with another person and you are allowed to use kicking, punching, elbow strikes, and knee strikes. Karate has been mentioned as one of the new sports that is going to be a fun and heated up competition. Many people are happy that Karate has been approved as a sport for Tokyo 2020 but are saddened that Karate is not classified as a sport for Paris Olympics 2024 but at least we can see the karate competition in Tokyo!

Skateboarding is popular amongst the younger generation and in most countries, you can see people skateboarding on a wooden platform near the playground or a school. For those of us that do not know what skateboarding is, it's basically an action sport where you ride a rectangular wooden fabric with two wheels on the sides. You can learn to do many tricks and even go up and down handrails but you can also cause injury to yourself but it is about the adrenaline rush and it makes people feel relieved. At the Olympics, contestants will be tested on their speed, tricks, and heights of jumps and whether they can successfully cross over ramps and quarter pipes. This sport has been added to bring attention to the younger generation by persuading them to watch the Olympics because there will be fun games. 

Sport climbing is similar to rock climbing. At the Olympics, there will be 3 different types of sport climbing: bouldering, speed climbing, and lead climbing. Bouldering is when you do not use harnesses or ropes to climb the ropes, all you have is your trainers and you will have to try and get to the top of the wall and whoever climbs to the top the fastest wins. Speed climbing is where two people climb the 15 meter wall at the same time and whoever makes it to the top in the shortest time wins the game. Lead climbing involves climbing a wall which is more than 15 meters and you have to use safety ropes and try to get to the top if you fall then the height you went up to gets measured and whoever reaches the height closest to the top wins the game. 

Surfing is a new sport that relies on the weather and involves a person standing on a surfboard and trying to stand up whenever a wave forms. This sport is difficult because you need to have good balance on the surfboard and if you are new you are bound to fall over many times and will need more practice to be in a stable position. One of the fun things about surfing is that you get a sense of achievement when you are able to do it and many people around the world like surfing or watching people surf so this is a good addition to the Tokyo Olympics 2020. One thing for sure is that we can look forward to many athletes that will have a perfect position, good speed and power, and the judges will be able to give us their input on the best surfer, I can not wait to see the fierce competition. 

To find out more about the different sports visit Tokyo Olympics Sports 2020

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Athletes to look out for

There are many athletes that Japanese people are keen to see at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and they are all wishing that many players make it to the team. I have researched about who Japanese people want to see the most and the common names mentioned were: 

Female Athletes:

Male Athletes: 

Athletes defending their medals

There are also athletes that are defending their medals whether they want to get bronze, silver or gold medals. Some of them have mentioned specifically that they want to win gold medals while others have stated they just want to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics. These athletes are from various countries and are aiming to do their best at the Olympics: 

Ippei Watanabe Swimming Japan
Timo Boll Table Tennis German
PV Sindhu Badminton India
Takeru Kitazona Gymnastics Japan
Sun Yang Swimming China
Caeleb Dressel Swimming USA
Shiva Tapa Boxing India
Xin Xin Swimming China
Noah Lyles Track and Field USA

Mistakes to avoid

We know preparations for the Olympics can be stressful so we have come up with a set of tips to help you have a stress-free experience. We have even included some tips from people that actually have had the chance to attend the Olympics in different countries and we hope that all of this information is useful for you. 

  • Get your tickets early and be prepared. Everyone talks about how hard it is to get tickets and it is good to be ready with a few devices, getting tickets is hard but once you try your best, it is totally worth it in the end. 
  • Be aware of the public transport routes and which public transport could be packed. This is an obvious rule and if you have tickets then you do not want to be stuck in traffic unable to attend the events so research beforehand the best way to travel to your destination and have a few different ways that you could travel.
  • Find accommodation near the venue if possible, many accommodations get filled up especially when it is close to the Olympics so try to find accommodations that are not too far from the venues. Team MSF who experienced the Olympics mentioned how they looked for accommodation quite late but luckily they were able to find accommodations. Read about their experience here
  • Apply for job positions early and make sure you have relevant experience. To apply to be a medical staff at the Russia Olympics, Jordan mentions how you need to be patient and also have 3 years' worth of experience and get along with your colleagues for the event. He even provides useful tips, check it out here.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Transportation sites

Japan is getting ready for the Olympics and the ways you can travel to the Olympic venues is by having a Japan Rail Pass. This will give you access to travel around Japan. Japan is also in the process of creating a new station and testing for driverless taxi and faster trains so keep a lookout for them because they will be available before the start of the Olympics. It is better to at least go one hour earlier but the venue might only be open a few minutes before the event so keep that in mind. It might be a good idea to find accommodation near the Olympic venues so that you can just walk to the venue without being stuck in traffic in the taxi or bus. Trains are a fast way to get to the venues but with the number of people that are going to arrive in Japan for the Olympics, the trains will definitely be packed so it might be best to find a better way to travel to the venues. Busses, on the other hand, relies on capacity, each town as a bus and from what I have seen, the buses are quite small and narrow. This means if many people choose to go by bus, they will be squashed inside and there might be a big ruckus I would advise you to take the train instead of the bus since the train is faster too. 

You can check out these transportation sites for more information:

Tokyo Olympics 2020 Information

Tokyo 2020 has even created an English guide for users so they are aware of what can be expected from the Tokyo Olympics, find out more here Tokyo 2020 English Guide. I have also done some research on other topics linking to the Olympics:

You can find more information and regular updates on the Olympic official website and the Tokyo 2020 official site. I hope that you enjoy the Olympics with your friends and family and everyone has a positive experience at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Let’s enjoy the games, the food, and the lively atmosphere wherever you are watching it from and make lifetime memories. 

Full Time English Teaching Jobs

Let us help you learn Japanese

In addition to awesome articles, we also provide Japanese lessons to foreigners at Japan Switch in Tokyo. We have two branches in Gotanda and Shinjuku.

japanese kanji

Looking for fun things to do in Tokyo?

Join our newsletter and receive one fun thing to do each week

Scroll to Top