[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the New National Stadium, held in Tokyo.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

“I would like to make some brief remarks today on the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the New National Stadium.
When the previous construction plan for this stadium was cancelled in July of last year, I said that I wanted to make the New National Stadium a venue that the public and athletes will celebrate, and that moves and inspires the dreams of people around the world.

Since then, thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, a new form for the stadium has been created that puts athletes first, uses the world’s most advanced universal design, and incorporates harmony with the local environment and Japanese style. The new design gives us the strong conviction that the New National Stadium will inherit the history of the Meiji Jingu Gaien area and old National Stadium, and be reborn as a stadium that communicates a new era of sports and culture.

The Rio de Janeiro Games drew to a close a while ago, with our Japanese athletes putting in strong performances. Having been passed the baton from Brazil, we must make the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games the world’s best. We must create a Games in which people can share their dreams and hopes and that will be a legacy that people can be proud of. The Games must also communicate Japan’s capabilities to the world and pave the way for the future of Japan.

The New National Stadium will truly be an appropriate stadium for that event. I believe that four years from now, many athletes will come to this stadium to push themselves to their limits, and that their performances will invigorate people and society.

Full-fledged construction will begin at last. I want to express my heartfelt respect for the efforts that everyone involved has made up to today. I would like to conclude my address by expressing my heartfelt hope that construction will be safely completed for this New National Stadium through the cooperation of the Japan Sport Council and everyone else involved, and that this stadium will become a place that will communicate a new era of sports and culture.”