Summer Olympic Games 2020

This is going to be the second time that Japan and precisely Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympic Games and has made the first city in Asia to host summer Games twice. The multi-sport event has been scheduled to occur from 24th of July to 9th of August with initial events in some sports starting on 22nd of July. This year these Games will witness the introduction of new competitions, including freestyle BMX, Madison cycling, with further mixed events. Karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding is going to make their Olympic debuts with the return of baseball and softball for the very first time since 2008 in the Summer Olympics Games.

Summer Olympic Mascot
Miraitowa, a smiling creature is going to be the official mascot of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. This mascot got its name from the Japanese words “mirai” (meaning future) and “towa” (meaning eternity) which resembles of both a feline superhero and a robot.
So, the inspiration of the personality was taken from a traditional Japanese proverb which means “to learn old things well and to acquire new knowledge from them”, which nicely contradicts its focus on the future. The name was basically chosen to promote eternal hope in the hearts of the future generation all over the world. As stated in the Olympic site, Miraitowa lives in the digital world, but have the power to appear in the real world through the internet and has the ability to teleport instantly.
The first appearance of Miraitowa was at a naming ceremony at the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya in the middle of modern Tokyo. Its appearance was alongside Paralympic mascot, Someity. By traveling instantly to Asakusa in Old Tokyo, Miraitowa showed off its teleporting skills where it sailed down to the Sumida River and met new fans.

By: Soumya Jha
Content: www.olympic.org