Internal working platform of Yunnan Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

As a defeated country in World War II, Japan only joined the United Nations in 1956 and returned to the international community. In 1964, Tokyo successfully hosted the eighteenth Olympic Games, with 5,140 athletes from 94 countries and regions participating. This is the first Olympic Games held in Asia, which means that Japan bids farewell to the post-war recovery stage and becomes a developed country.

  At that time, the Japanese government spent 3 billion US dollars to build a first-class sports stadium in Tokyo. The venues and facilities have prompted the completion of large-scale projects such as the Shinkansen, the Metropolitan Expressway, and the Meishin Expressway. It has also sparked a boom in hotel construction, making Tokyo a world-class modern metropolis.

   The unprecedented grand occasion of the Tokyo Olympics has greatly stimulated the enterprising spirit and self-confidence of the Japanese people, and Japan's international status is also obvious improve. 1964 was a year of epoch-making significance for post-war Japan. In April of that year, Japan joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), joining the ranks of developed countries. In September of the same year, the IMF and World Bank General Meetings were held in Tokyo for the first time, and then the Olympic Games were held in Tokyo. The Japanese think excitedly: "These are like commemorative celebrations for Japan's growth into a developed country." The Tokyo Olympics has influenced a whole generation of Japanese, and the Japanese who experienced the Tokyo Olympics are still proud of it today.

  The Tokyo Olympics at that time had a lot of experience to learn from. One of them is that the thoughtful service of every detail forms the overall one-stop high-level service. For example, in Tokyo, there are regular bus shuttles (buses) departing from all relatively high-end hotels to Narita International Airport, which is very convenient. In the hotel lobby, there is a timetable for the bus to the airport and full-time reception staff. There is a bus ticket office next to the currency exchange counter in the airport. When the drivers of these shuttle buses and taxis take the passengers to their destinations, they will unload the luggage for the passengers to complete the task. These services make people feel that the service quality and attitude of the Japanese are world-class.

  The Japanese Olympic Committee also carefully organized and arranged, and held the "Sports Week" in October 1963, according to The personnel flow of various sports was rehearsed, and very thoughtful services were provided to the participating countries during the Olympic Games. This fully demonstrates the delicate national characteristics of the Japanese and has been highly praised. It was Yoshinori Sakai, a student at Waseda University in Japan, who lit the torch at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. He was not an Olympian; he was chosen because he was born on August 6, 1945, the day the US atomic bombed Hiroshima. This arrangement reflects Japan's painstaking efforts to commemorate the victims of the war, call for world peace, and shape the image of a post-war peaceful country.

   Japan's measures for the "post-Olympic economy" have led to an economic rebound. After the Olympic Games, the Japanese economy experienced a temporary decline, and the growth rate dropped from 13% in 1964 to 5% in 1965. However, after 1966, the Japanese economy regained vitality. In response to problems such as rising prices and the bankruptcy of small and medium-sized enterprises, Japan passed the "Economic and Social Development Plan", which effectively improved the economic benefits of enterprises and stabilized prices. From 1967 to 1969, the Japanese economy achieved an average annual growth rate of more than 13%. Japan has become the second largest economy in the world since 1968. In particular, the World Expo held in Osaka in 1970 once again became the driving force for Japan's economic growth.

  2007 is the 35th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan and the year of cultural and sports exchanges between China and Japan. The various friendly activities carried out by the two countries are also creating a good atmosphere for the Beijing Olympics" warm up". In March of that year, led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Yohei Kono, 225 members of the Japanese Diet, including 6 former Olympians, formed the "Assembly of Members of Parliament in Support of the Beijing Olympics", becoming the organization with the largest number of participants in the Japanese Diet. Its purpose is to provide support for the success of the Beijing Olympic Games and to further promote the development of Sino-Japanese friendly relations.

   In May of this year, Chairman Hu's "Warm Spring Journey" to Japan was a complete success. Since then, a huge earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan, China. The Japanese government dispatched a rescue team and a medical team in time, and members of the Japanese Diet organized a delegation to the disaster area to deliver relief supplies, which greatly improved the impression of Japan in the hearts of the Chinese people. A virtuous circle in which the climax of high-level exchanges between China and Japan and the improvement of people-to-people sentiments are mutually reinforcing is forming the mainstream of current Sino-Japanese relations. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games; Japan has decided to send a sports delegation composed of 335 people to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games, which is the largest number of people so far; in addition, tens of thousands of tourists from Japan will come to Beijing to watch the Olympic Games.

  At present, most of the Japanese mainstream media expect the Beijing Olympic Games to be a success. The Japanese public is more worried about whether the Chinese audience will boo the Japanese athletes during the competition between China and Japan. They hope that the Chinese audience will cheer for the athletes of both sides. Some media are concerned about whether Tokyo Governor (Mayor) Shintaro Ishihara, who is known for being "anti-China", will cause controversy if he attends the Beijing Olympics. They hope that the Chinese people can separate politics from sports.

  The author believes that this Olympic Games will show the world the image of a peaceful and successful country. As a big developing country, China will work hard to learn from the strengths of other countries, learn from others, constantly improve itself, and improve the quality of its citizens. Both China and Japan should take the Beijing Olympic Games as an important opportunity to enhance the friendship between the two peoples. The Chinese people should treat the Japanese Olympic athletes and ordinary tourists who come to participate in the competition well. In this way, through the media reports of the two countries, the Beijing Olympic Games can become a new page recording the friendship between China and Japan and be recorded in the annals of bilateral relations.

  (The author is a professor at the Institute of International Studies, Tsinghua University)