NTT Appointed as First Gold Partner for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games

I am delighted today to announce that we have concluded a contract with NTT as the first Gold Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is just about one year since the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee was formed. A few days ago, we celebrated with 20 athletes the fact that there were 2,020 days left until the Games begin. Today, we continue the upbeat themes with the announcement of our first Gold Partner. I feel that 2015 is truly off to a great start.

We believe in the power of sports to change the world and the future. Our vision for the Games comprises three concepts: personal bests for all, diversity and harmony, and future inheritance. We are working throughout Japan to accomplish this. Today, we welcome NTT as a partner with whom we will work. The telecommunications services that collect all the information and records of the Games and instantly transmit them to the world are essential to the Games' success. It is indeed encouraging to have NTT with its world-leading technology as our partner in charge of this work.

We see here today many athletes supported by NTT and competitors from the world of triathlons, where NTT has been a sponsor for 25 years.

We are looking forward immensely to working together with NTT to deliver a magnificent stage where you and athletes from across the world can aim for and come together to compete to the peak of their abilities. NTT has a long and distinguished history of connecting people across the length and breadth of Japan, and it is my earnest wish that we will be able to work together to further strengthen bonds between people and ensure that we deliver a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.

I am very pleased today to be able to announce our appointment as the first Gold Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. I feel it a great honor and a great responsibility to be the first.

We have handled telecommunications for the Olympic Games three times in the past. When we were still NTT Public Corporation, we handled the first Tokyo Olympics and the Sapporo Winter Olympics. As NTT Corporation, were in charge of telecommunications for the Nagano Winter Olympics. I am very honored that NTT is able to collaborate to support the success of the 2020 Tokyo Games as well. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate three points about our commitment.

First, we will take every measure to ensure the success of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The telecommunications environment has changed greatly. It is said that the amount of information transmitted grew eight times as large from the Beijing Olympics to the London Olympics. A tremendous amount of information will fly over networks at the coming Rio and Tokyo Olympics. Networks must smoothly channel this information and take the possibility of cyberterrorism into account. I think our first mission is to thoroughly ensure cyber-security.

Second, and this was a key point in Tokyo's winning bid for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there is collaboration with various industries to achieve true hospitality. We will collaborate with people in various industries on services such as video and translation so that everyone will feel that the Japanese Olympics and Paralympics were truly wonderful. We want to enhance such initiatives.

Third, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee puts forth the concept of the Olympics and Paralympics as a legacy bequeathed to the next generation. We want to contribute as a partner to the initiatives of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games that will become a legacy for the next generation.

I want to publicly reiterate our commitment to those three points in front of all of you today.

Furthermore, to date we have supported almost 40 athletes in the Olympics and Paralympics. Six of them are here today. The NTT Group will continue to do its utmost to contribute to sports.

NTT enabled smooth communication with the world through telecommunications infrastructure at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, and the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, contributing mightily to the success of those Games. Furthermore, NTT DOCOMO has supported Japanese Olympic athletes as a JOC partner in the "Ganbare! Nippon!" ("Go for it! Japan!") campaign since 2004 and by setting up telecommunications systems at the Games.

The JOC is thrilled to welcome NTT as the first member of its Gold Partner joint marketing program. In order to uphold the goals of Olympism, namely, maintaining world peace, enhancing international friendship, and fostering harmony among humanity through sports, the JOC works diligently at its mission of promoting the Olympic Movement, fostering top athletes, and sending Japanese representatives to the Olympics and other events.

Athletic endeavors on the international stage are particularly dramatic. Such sports can also bring the people of a nation dreams, hopes, and courage, making important contributions to vital societies and the development of harmony in the international community.

With the cooperation of Gold Partner NTT, the JOC will work with organizations such as national sports governing bodies and the national government and other related organizations to ensure that Japanese athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games can give their best efforts with no regrets. We will continue to push forward for the success of the Games.

Once more I would like to express my deep gratitude that NTT has become a Gold Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The name "Paralympics" first began to be used 50 years ago at the 1964 Tokyo Games at Japan's suggestion. Ever since, the Paralympics have been a cornerstone of the promotion and dissemination of sports for people with disabilities in Japan. In 2020, Tokyo will become the first single city to host a second Paralympics, with great worldwide attention. In collaboration with our partners, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and other concerned people, we hope to inform Japan and the world that the Paralympics are not just games where people with disabilities do their best, but are also sporting events that push the limits of human possibilities.

The Paralympics have the power to change the attitudes of people with disabilities, and to change society. With Japan facing the advent of an ultra-aged society, I am confident that the Tokyo Paralympic Games will be a first step towards necessary acceptance of differences and diversity and the creation of a cohesive society in which people help one another.

NTT is already addressing the solution of various issues in an aging society through the theme of human and social communication. NTT's active use of this opportunity to support the Paralympics and more closely integrate them into society will help make the Tokyo Paralympics a success. With the help of NTT, which connects people and society, we will do all that we can to inform the world of the development of the Paralympic Movement.

Finally, NTT-sponsored Paralympians Takuro Yamada and Tadashi Horikoshi are here with us today. Once again I would like to thank you for your support of these athletes and express my hope for your continued support of athletes and the Paralympic Movement.