Japan's celebration of culture leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will "deliver something inspiring for the people of Japan and the whole world," according to London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Director Ruth Mackenzie.
"Each Olympics has the chance to celebrate the culture of their country," Mackenzie told reporters after meeting with the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee earlier this week.
"Japan is known worldwide for the beauty and richness not just of your heritage, but also of your contemporary artists, your popular artists, your supremacy in the creative industries and your supremacy in digital innovation. So I am sure that your festival and your Cultural Olympiad will beat London's."