A design by British architect Zaha HADID for the new National Stadium, which is scheduled to be the main stadium of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, was selected at a construction design contest three years ago. At the outset in November 2012, the total cost was estimated to be 130 billion yen, but one year later an announcement by the Japan Sports Council (JSC) put it at 300 billion yen. As even the London Olympic Stadium – the most expensive to date – cost 65 billion yen, public opinion was strongly critical of the announcement. This July the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the JSC set a revised budget of 252 billion yen. However, some film directors, actors and many athletes joined the opposition asking “for whose benefit is the stadium being built?” and public opinion polls showed that over 70% of citizens were against this budget. Prime Minister Abe announced that the government would take into account this opposition and go back to the drawing board, starting again from scratch. Various opinions were voiced over this series of missteps. These include: How come the estimate swelled to twice its original size? Who carried out the estimate? Who was in charge of decision making? Some people hold the view that as it is not clear exactly who was responsible, there might be some scandal behind this huge increase. Many citizens think it is not the right time to build an ostentatious facility that can compete for the world’s number one spot. They think that a compact stadium furnished with the minimum facilities should be enough. People feel that Prime Minister Abe’s announcement is intended to give the impression that he is listening to the voice of the people. Furthermore, some people think this performance was simply to gain public favor as the most important issue for Prime Minister Abe is getting approval for controversial security legislation.