Shibuya246 » Sports

Tokyo2016Today.com

Shibuya246 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:48:13 +0000

Supporters sign in for the Tokyo 2016 Olympics, Paralympics

Tokyo2016Today.com is a site focused on showing stories about Tokyo’s bid for the 2016 Olympic / Paralympic Games. As some of you know, myself and 3 other Japan Bloggers have been writing stories about Tokyo’s bid for the last few months.

Yesterday, the Tokyo2016Today.com site was featured in the Japanese newspaper, Sankei Shinbun (産経新聞). Thank you Sankei Shinbun.

Tokyo2016Today.com in the Sankei Shinbun

It is now only about 35 days to the big decision on which city hosts the 2016 Games. The decision will be made in Copenhagen on 2 October, 2009.

A number of students who are part of an association to help support the activities of Tokyo’s Bid give their time and energy to plan and assist in events as well as blog about behind the scenes stories.

A number for them plan to travel to Copenhagen and have a blog about this also. In the future they are thinking of making an English version of this. (for now they just have the Japanese one).

2 of the student association volunteers for Tokyo 2016

While I was visiting the Train Exhibition at Shinagawa, I bumped into an event for signing a large Tokyo 2016 support banner. I met the above students and signed shibuya246′s name on the banner to be taken to Copenhagen in 35 days.

Can you see where I have signed in for Shibuya246 ?

Tokyo2016 Olympic soon, Shibuya246

There were many athletes and famous signatures of support.

Badminton Olympian signs in

Some nice artwork of Gundam here

Gundam is show his support for the Tokyo 2016 Bid by wearing this mark

More Information

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Adidas Futsal Shibuya

Shibuya246 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:38:05 +0000

The adidas Futsal Park in Shibuya has been in place for a few years now. I was asked by a reader to show some photos so here they are.

The Futsal Park is always popular with either matches or training. It really is a good use of the space on top of this Tokyu Department building.

Must be hard to concentrate with the large adidas striker add above you

This is the same Department store (the same building as exists today) where they used to have the cable car ropeway leaving from years ago.

Whilst we are looking out over the adidas futsak park, here are some other things you can see from the 20th floor of the Excel Tokyu Hotel at Shibuya

A view of the Docomo Tower at Yoyogi

Looking out over Yoyogi and Harajuku

The rooftop of an adjacent building being used to rest and cool off in the heat

The view from the Excel Tokyu Hotel

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J-League Soccer

Shibuya246 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:32:53 +0000

Tokyo Verdy kick-off team photo

Soccer became popular in Japan following the creation of the professional J-League and then the hosting of the Soccer World Cup in 2002.

I was invited to a match between Tokyo Verdy and Tokushima Vortis on the weekend at Yoyogi National Stadium, and was able to stand on the touch line to take photos as an accredited press member. It was a really good experience to see the game up close and take some photos of the action.

J-League Soccer Balls, up close

Thank you to Tokyo 2016 Olympic / Paralympic Games Bid for organizing this for me. Here is their report on the Tokyo 2016 Bid Events that took place at the game.

Tokyo Verdy team coming out onto the pitch

being on the touch-line made for some great close ups

The Vortis number 13 makes his move up pitch

The official Press pass to get in to Yoyogi Stadium

pre-match photograph of me getting ready for the match. Nikon at the ready

Once on the touchline I got to line up with the other photographers

some of these cameras had good lenses on them

action shots of the match

Holding off the tackle

this Verdy player is taking the defence on, but who is the Vortis guy in the mask?

players positioning for a free kick. number 20 in the mask is there again

and that's a goal

Being part of the Press contingent we were able to get the half-time report from the 2 teams. Looks like Verdy is trying to get its defense to take more care of the long ball and counter attacks from Vortis, while the Vortis team say they must run harder than the opposition team or they cannot win.

half time comment sheet

There were some great Tokyo 2016 Olympic / Paralympic Bid events held before the match and at half-time, including ladies in Tokyo 2016 Yukatas, large scale Shodo display, Olympic banner parade, medal presentations and more.

You can see the full report I wrote about the Soccer and Tokyo 2016 Olympic events here.

Tokyo2016Today.com Olympic Report by Shibuya246

Verdy went on to win 4-0 and advance up the league table. They were ranked 5 in the J2 league coming into this game and will want to finish strong to try and elevate themselves to the main J-league division for next year.

The final result, a strong win for Tokyo Verdy

The Tokyo Verdy keeper clears a ball

The Vortis keeper moves fast to clear his line

children march the Verdy flag off

There was some strong fan support for the home team

The players thank their fans for the loyal support

The Hero interview after the match

The losing Vortis coach gives his explanation of what went wrong in the post-game interview

I really enjoyed going to this match and taking photos from the side-line. I look forward to another similar event in the future.

More Information

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Tokyo 2016 Project

Shibuya246 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:44:53 +0000

Tokyo2016Today.com

Recently I have been busy working with 3 fellow J-Bloggers on a community blog project to support the Tokyo2016 Bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The site is called Tokyo2016Today.com My colleagues are Jill from kimonobox.com, Shane from The Nihonsun.com and Honor from tokyotopia.com

As you may know Tokyo is bidding to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games for 2016. The decision on who will host the Games will be made in Copenhagen on October 2, 2009. That is in just 100 days time!

As part of the support community project we have set up a Blog which will have regular postings about the Tokyo2016 Bid activities, history and interesting news, as well as a separate flickr photo group, a Friendfeed group and a Twitter account.

flickr photo group - Tokyo2016

We are hoping people will join us to get behind the Bid for Tokyo for the Games in 2016.

Twitter account - @Tokyo2016Today

Friendfeed - Tokyo2016Today

It is also possible to help support by submitting articles from Tokyo2016Today.com to StumbleUpon.com and Reddit.com as well as other social networking sites.

In the top right hand corner of each article on the Blog you can find buttons for submission. We have found reddit and stumbleupon very effective.

How to submit articles to help support Tokyo2016

Of course you can also just subscribe to the RSS feed, sit back and read the news as it comes to you. You have the choice of subscribing in a reader or leaving your email address and be sent the stories once a day.

I am hoping this project will be an exciting one and with your support that it will run well beyond just a hundred days.

If you want to get involved, here are the main support sites we have again:
Blogsite: http://Tokyo2016Today.com
Twitter: @Tokyo2016Today
Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/tokyo2016
FriendFeed: http://friendfeed.com/tokyo2016today

and here is a video presentation from YouTube for the Tokyo2016 Bid

See you at the Games, 2016!

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Hatagaya, Olympics, Tokyo 2016

Shibuya246 — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:15:50 +0000

Running with their Olympic torches

I was invited to an event held at the Fukuda kindergarten (福田幼稚園) in Hatagaya, Shibuya, over the weekend and attended with Shane Sakata from The Nihon Sun, a blog with great information on Japan travel.

The kindergarten was established in the year Showa 24 (昭和２４年) or 1949 and has a great history including at one time having its own farm (牧場) with cows where the kids could take a cup and get their daily fresh milk straight from the source.

It is hard to imagine today that cows might still be roaming around Shibuya ward.

some of the historical photos of Fukuda Kindergarten

The event at the kindergarten was to celebrate the participation of Tokyo as a bidding city for the 2016 Olympics.

Olympic torches at the ready for the big event

Among those attending were Yoshinori Sakai, who was the torch bearer for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the time, Sakai-san was a 19 year old Waseda student. Having been born in Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 Sakai-san had experienced first hand the devastation caused by war, and then grew up during the rapid economic rebuilding period.

Yoshinori Sakai leads the runners into the kindergarten

The event included a relay by the children, a trampoline performance by Yasuhiro Ueyama (2006 trampoline world champion), the planting of a tree, and speeches.

Sakai-san lights the torches for the kids

A message from the children of Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics

It was great to see the children being made a central part of the event. Although their were some official speeches made and Tokyo2016 was an important theme, the event revolved around the participation of the kids. If Tokyo wins its bid to hold the Games in 2016, these children will be in school playing a variety of sports and perhaps dreaming of one day themselves representing Japan at Olympic level.

The kids really enjoyed the relay event

anchor runners for the relay

Waiting for their turn to take part

The kids were patient during the speeches and seem to appreciate the message delivered by Sakai-san.

Official speeches, Ueyama-san in middle, Sakai-san on right

kids listening intently to the speeches. Parents looking on

To the kids delight, Sakai-san handed them the official Olympic torch. They all took turns at holding it, and had some of the kindergarten staff looking on a bit worried as to what might happen if it broke.

Sakai-san hands the kids the official Olympic torch

Future Olympian in the making. Hold the torch high!

Getting in position for the photos. Nice colored hats

Commemorative photo for all participants

The trampoline event was a highlight for the kids. They got to see some high jumps, back flips, and tumble turns on display before trying some small jumps themselves on the trampoline named “EuroTramp”.

Don't try this at home kids

I wasn't volunteering to take part in this display

This girls delight at the trampoline was great. Just like watching the Olympics for the first time

Some of the kids get a go. not quite as high with those jumps

Onlookers enjoying the trampoline display

Some good Olympic spirit here

Following the relay and trampoline, a tree was planted to mark the occasion. The kids loved the digging for the tree and were a bit disappointed that they didn’t have to make a bigger hole.

digging the hole

The teacher makes sure things are going ok for the tree planting

A quick snapshot to commemorate the event

In the official interview after the events Sakai-san talked about his memories of the 1964 Games saying that all of Japan had come together to show the world how Japan had succeeded in its economic development, and to promote the message of peace.

Interview of athletes and children

The children stole the show talking about their enjoyment of the day and what type of athlete they would like to be in the future.

Giving their views on the Games

A great combination with these three. Very amusing interview

The Fukuda kindergarten was kind enough to give me some souvenirs of the trip, including a copy of their 50th anniversary guide book and a CD produced for the kindergarten with songs written by the Principal. Thank you.

Some souvenirs from Fukuda Kindergarten

I am sure these children will remember the day that the Olympics came to their local kindergarten in Hatagaya. If they are lucky, in 7 years time they may be sitting in a stadium in central Tokyo cheering for their nations athletes competing in the Tokyo2016 Olympic Games.

Tokyo2016 Information
The date to announce the successful bid city will be held by the IOC in Copenhagen, Denmark on 2 October 2009.

The official site for the Tokyo2016 Bid campaign contains a lot more information about the Games.

Here is a promotional video for the Tokyo2016 Games Bid.

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Golf in Shibuya

Shibuya246 — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:51:01 +0000

Whilst many people are familiar with the driving ranges at Lotte Kasai or Jingu Golf Club, some of the smaller ranges often go unnoticed on the roof-tops of buildings throughout Tokyo. In Shibuya there is a range about 5 minutes walk from the station in Nanpeidai.

The website for this range is at http://www.nanpeidai.co.jp

The range is not large as you can see from this photo but if convenience is what you are looking for this is just a short walk from the station and easily accessible. Lessons are available also at the range.

For an English list of many driving ranges throughout Japan you can also try this website.

http://www.golf-in-japan.com/ranges_tokyo-a.php

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