Hideo Yoshikawa, director of the Nippon Budokan -- a venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics -- seemed to be overcome with emotions on Tuesday, the day before the ceremony to mark the completion of the enlargement and improvement of the building's existing facilities.
"We've managed to get this far," said Yoshikawa, 66, who is also the secretary general of the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Olympic judo and karate matches and Paralympic judo matches will be held at the Nippon Budokan during the Tokyo Games, which were postponed for a year to 2021.
The Nippon Budokan was built in 1964, and served as the venue of great matches including one at the 1964 Olympics in which judoka Anton Geesink of the Netherlands pinned down Japanese rival Akio Kaminaga in the finals of the open-weight division on Oct. 23.
Serving as a concert hall for the Beatles in 1966 and other many top artists, the hall has also been treated as a holy site for music enthusiasts.
The 2020 Tokyo Games will be the first Olympic games for the Nippon Budokan in more than 50 years. It will host 14 men's and women's judo events in addition to mixed team events. In 1964, it hosted only four men's judo events.
"We had to change Nippon Budokan's specifications of the Showa era to that of the Reiwa era," Yoshikawa said.
The hall was temporarily closed in September last year to allow for the massive improvements to existing facilities.
To make the facilities barrier-free, multipurpose restrooms for physically disabled people were added and space for wheelchairs was created. The famous octagon-shaped roof was retiled, but the original beauty of the building was maintained.
Originally, judo matches of men's 81-kilogram division and women's 63-kilogram division were to be held at the Nippon Budokan on Tuesday.
Yoshikawa said Tokyo would have been filled with people from various countries speaking various languages by now if the Tokyo Games were being held as scheduled.
"I look forward to the Games next year," said Yoshikawa in expectation of more great matches under the octagonal roof.
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