Tokyo 2020 Olympics Volunteer #SquadGoals

On this week’s episode of ‘This week of Japan’, we welcome another bad naming-job done by the Japanese government. Following the sad reception from the release of the newest addition to Tokyo’s central train line, ‘Takanawa Gateway’, this time the government has opted for cheesy action hero labels for the Olympic and Paralympic volunteer teams.

The Tokyo Organizing Committee decided that volunteers should sound like everyday heroes in their 10 days of volunteering, instead of what they really are: highly skilled bilingual individuals who are in it for a 2020 Olympic shirt and a brief chance to see our favorite Olympians. These four ‘My Hero Academia’-esque sections were proposed to be called “Shining Blue”, “Field Cast”, “Games Anchor” and “Games Force”, and volunteers will be grouped based on the municipality that operates and recruits each volunteer.

Okay, we’re not saying everyone hates it per se, but most Japanese netizens agree that it’s like they’re about to head into an action anime where they’re about to be ‘KAMEHAMEHA’ed by a fellow volunteer.


(Caption: Get them!! Shining Blue!!)


(Caption: Shining Blue Tokyo… what came to my mind when I heard it was the Shining Gundam and Blue Destiny pieces)


(Caption: Jyuki: Shining Blue… Cool! )

Scarily, a lot of people have been relating this group of ‘Shining Blue’ volunteers to remind them of a certain hotel-horror story:


(Caption: The first thing I think of when I heard the Olympic volunteers were going to be nicknamed ‘Shining Blue’...)


(Caption: Literally, The Shining on BluRay)

Admittedly, the government has been trying really hard recently to try and get everyone involved and excited about the Olympics, which is probably why they wanted to go for cool-sounding names for the volunteers. Maybe if they went for calling the volunteers ‘Space Station’ or ‘Shin-Shinagawa’ then the public would finally be ready!

(Sources: Livedoor, Tokyo2020)

Elise Meng