Olympic Games as Instrument of Japan Soft Power

Over last century, Japan has hosted Olympic Games thrice (summer games in Tokyo in 1964, winter games in Sapporo in 1972 and winter games in Nagano in 1998). This year Japan was about to host summer once again in Tokyo. However due to world pandemic of COVID-19 the event was to be postponed to summer 2021. However, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) decided to save the brand name of the event, so it will stay as Olympic games 2020, and so we will use this name in this paper as well. Every single mega-event is a big expense and great responsibility (and reputation risk) for a country. Besides Olympic Games Japan is actively takes charge for other international events, such as numerous exhibitions, ASEAN summits, sport events, scientific conferences and so on. So why Japan keep hosting big events? The short answer for this question is dividends from the event – infrastructure development, influx of investments, tourists, reputation, etc. Generally, we can call it soft power dividends. But still the definition of soft power is under discussion, as well as its components. We will observe these components in details in the theoretical part of this paper. In this research paper, we will touch upon multiple theoretical and practical moments in order to understand Olympic Games in Japan as Instrument of Soft Power.