Healthy and sporty?

Today is Health and Sports Day in Japan, a public holiday first held in 1966 to commemorate the Tokyo Olympic games two years previously.

I discovered last month when I was doing some research for this newsletter, that the 1966 Olympics were held late due to Tokyo's difficult weather.

 It had to be just right to accommodate athletes from both warm countries and cold countries. And compared to other cities that had hosted the Games of the Olympiad until then, Tokyo was very rainy. The summer months are hot and humid, moreover, while the weather in spring tends to be very unstable. Early autumn is the height of the typhoon season and is marked by heavy downpours.

So the organizers of the Tokyo Games asked meteorologists when would be the best time to hold an outdoor sports event. The answer was mid-October, since by then, the typhoons stop coming, and the skies turn a deep, clear blue. Based on this recommendation, the organizers chose an unusually late date for the Summer Games. Much to the organizers' relief, the Opening Ceremonies were staged under a brilliant, cloudless sky. From http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/october/sports.html

I wonder whether they'll hold it in October in 2020? Editor's note: a friend on Facebook told me this is no longer an option in our media-crazy era. Apparently they have to hold it in August, despite the very trying conditions that that will mean for outdoor sports (and spectators).

This was the view when I looked up from my bed yesterday
morning, yes, that's our neighbour's roof! But it's the
blue sky that I love, Australia has an abundance
 of that and at times I miss it. It isn't so common in Tokyo.

And indeed, today is a beautiful still day with blue skies. We had some hot humid weather late last week, but that has settled down to very comfortable low 20s (Celsius) at the start of this week.