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20 July 2010, Osaka — Day 1 of FIFA’s inspection of 2022 candidate host nation Japan kicked off today with a full morning of presentations and discussions at an Osaka hotel. At a lunchtime press briefing, key figures from the Japanese bid team summed up their views for the media.
Senior Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Kan Suzuki commented: “I indicated to the FIFA delegation that the Japanese government is fully committed to supporting the 2022 bid. Co-hosting the 2002 World Cup with Korea was an event of historical significance for this country. Our ‘208 Smiles’ bid concept is based on a similar idea of Japan ‘co-hosting the tournament with the rest of the world.’ On behalf of the government, I want to assure FIFA that the people of Japan are united in their desire to host the 2022 World Cup. From the warmth of the welcome that the people of Osaka have extended to the delegation, it’s also clear just how passionate they are about becoming a host city in 2022.”
Osaka City Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu said: “Yesterday I flew over Osaka by helicopter with the inspection team on the way in from the airport. As I pointed out the proposed site of the planned Ecology Stadium in the city center, it came home to me that it is probably the last large piece of prime real estate left here. It’s an amazing location. Osaka might well be the only place on the planet where World Cup matches could be played just a couple of minutes walk from a terminal station used by 2.5 million people daily.”
Bid Committee Chairman Motoaki Inukai summed up the mood: “I had a good feeling about our meetings this morning. Our aim was to show the inspection team that Japan’s bid concept is practical and realistic. I believe we succeeded in that.”
With five on-site inspections, the delegation’s afternoon schedule was no less busy. After a visit to the Osaka International Convention Centre (proposed venue for the FIFA Congress), the team was driven to the main gate of Osaka Castle. They were taken by rickshaw to the Nishinomaru Garden, a proposed Fan Fest site for 2022 with a uniquely Japanese ambience thanks to its location immediately beside the magnificent 400-year-old castle.
Several hundred school children, football fans and youth players from a local club waved flags and chanted “Nippon! Osaka!” by way of welcome. Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu; official Bid Ambassador and local football hero Hiroaki Morishima; and Astro Boy, a popular cartoon hero and Special Bid Ambassador, were also on hand to offer a more formal greeting to Mr. Harold Mayne-Nicholls and the other members of his team.
The delegation retired inside a grand old wooden guesthouse for a brief presentation on the Osaka Fan Fest venues and Japan’s plans to share the joy of hosting the World Cup with all the FIFA affiliated nations by creating a “Universal Fan Fest in 208 Nations.“
When the delegates came back out, local football hero Morishima made a short speech: “I used to be in the national squad and scored a goal at the World Cup here in Osaka in 2002. The excitement and the emotion of that moment will never fade away. Now I want to show you how passionate Osaka is about football. Take a look at these messages from local children.”
A large board behind Morishima was then unveiled to reveal a collage of two footballers made from 3,000 green paper hexagons. On each hexagon was a message to FIFA urging them to choose Osaka as Host City and Japan as Host Nation for 2022. A total of 45,000 such handwritten messages had been sent in by local primary school children.
Making their way through the crowd to a pair of waiting helicopters, the delegation was whisked off to their next destination, the National Soccer Training Center in Sakai. Their day ended with visits to the International Broadcasting Centre and the FIFA Headquarters Hotel.
On Wednesday 21 July (Day 2) the delegation will leave Osaka for Tokyo and its environs to continue their inspection there.
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