Public tours begin at stadium for 2020 Games in Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A boy leaps over a hurdle during a tour of the National Stadium in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on Friday.

Public tours have started at the National Stadium, the main venue of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Participants can feel like athletes competing in sporting events with such activities as running on the track and standing on the podium that was used at the stadium in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, when the pandemic-delayed Games were held last year.

Tour participants can also read a wall of autographs of about 300 athletes who competed in the Games and look at the flame relay torches, among other items. Participants can even enter the changing rooms.

On Friday, the inaugural day of the tour, many families and others participated. Children had fun with activities such as jumping over hurdles.

“I got on the podium,” a 4-year-old boy who took pictures with his mother and others said exuberantly.

The tour costs ¥1,400 for adults and ¥800 for students through high school. Up to two preschool children can be admitted free with one adult participant. Reservations can be made online at kokuritsu-tours.jp.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A tour participant on Friday looks at a wall autographed by Olympic athletes.