To help ensure that foreign visitors can enjoy the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics without concern, Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe says he will focus on making the city safer from disasters, improve access to public transportation and even encourage residents to brush up on their English conversation skills.
"Above all, we have to make solid preparations for disasters to avoid casualties," including retrofitting facilities to make them more quake-resistant, the 65-year-old Masuzoe said in a Wednesday interview with The Japan Times at the metropolitan government building in Shinjuku Ward.
"I'd like to eliminate possible problems for visitors from abroad coming to Tokyo (for the Olympics) in six years, one by one," he said.