Regarding William Noll's Jan. 17 letter, "Olympics bid a waste of money": I, too, strongly oppose hosting the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
First, those responsible for hosting the games must recognize that Japan is a country poorly prepared for the great earthquake predicted for the Tokyo metropolitan area in the not-too-distant future. If that quake happens, all facilities used for the games and built with much public money will be damaged or destroyed.
Second, most beneficiaries of Tokyo's hosting the games would be private companies involved in facility construction and political leaders receiving big political donations from those companies.
The Olympics would bring about many benefits for profit-oriented companies and power-seeking politicians. Public money, which is collected largely from income taxes, should be spent on improving the everyday life of the people in the street. The government should pay a lot of attention to the increasing number of people who seek livelihood protection every year.
So, I believe that hosting the Olympics in Tokyo ultimately would not only waste money but also lead to the degradation of quality of life for low-income people.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.