Welcome.

It is my great pleasure to introduce the Aomori candidacy for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games, to be staged

in 2018. With our aim for the promotion of winter sports and friendship in Asia, we will work hard to stage

the Games successfully and in accordance with the Olympic ideal of spreading peace and good health

through the Games.

Aomori is the place that has prospered as the best comfortable place since the ancient times, and has

beautiful and abundant nature, represented by the world heritage, Shirakami Mountains. In this opportunity,

we would like to inform many people the natural splendour of Aomori, and also the power and warmness of

Aomori people.

Young athletes from all over the world would attend our Games, letting spectators experience their strength

and skill in sports.

We, the people in Aomori, will celebrate the Games with great emphasis on the Games being a communal,

cultural event. I am truly certain that visitors will be able to experience the full charm of Aomori and Japan as

we spread the message of the Games – to truly Celebrate Humanity.

Morio Kimura

President

Aomori 2018 Winter Olympic Games

Candidate Committee

THE GAMES OF THE PEOPLE – EVERYONE’S GAMES.

With this simple above motto, the candidature of Aomori plans to present Games on a human scale – with access to as many people as possible – while guaranteeing a compact, intimate setting. Located in the extreme North of the Japanese island of Honshu, Aomori and the surrounding area have hosted numerous international events throughout the last 50 years. While physically removed from the massive urbanisation of other parts of Japan, this pretty city of 300,000 offers world class accommodation and sporting infrastructure. With high speed rail links, year round road and air access as well as a natural deep port, Aomori is renown throughout Japan as a year round tourist destination. For the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Aomori will welcome the entire world. By staging the Games in a smaller centre, while still in the massive population base of Japan, this candidature offers the Olympic movement a way to return the Games to the real winter centres of the world without compromising on quality, attendance or financial benefit. With the 2018 Games scheduled for February 1st through to February 17th – and the Paralympic Games from March 1st to March 10th – the Games will benefit form ideal weather and snow conditions. With a tremendous 93.4% of the local population and 88.7% nationwide supporting the candidacy of Aomori, it will be truly be Everyone’s Games.

THE HOST CITIES – AOMORI CITY Ceremonies, Curling, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey, Short Track Speed Skating, Sledge Hockey, Wheelchair Curling MISAWA CITY Ice Hockey HACHINOHE CITY Ice Hockey, Speed Skating OWANI TOWN Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Ski Cross, Alpine Skiing, Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton IWAKI TOWN Biathlon, Cross Country AJIGASAWA TOWN Freestyle Skiing (Aerials, Moguls), Snowboarding TOKYO Ice Hockey NAGANO Ice Hockey

The venues –

AOMORI

Aomori Sports Complex Hall One CAPACITY 15,000 (5,000 permanent, 10,000 temporary) Figure Skating, Short Track Speed Skating, Ice Hockey finals, Paralympic Opening ceremony

Aomori Sports Complex Hall Two CAPACITY 3,000 (all temporary) Curling, Wheelchair Curling

Aomori Arena CAPACITY 7,000 Ice Hockey preliminaries, Sledge Hockey, Paralympic Closing Ceremony

MISAWA CITY

Misawa Ice Arena CAPACITY 6,500 (2,500 temporary) Ice Hockey preliminaries

HACHINOHE CITY

Hachinohe Ice Arena CAPACITY 3,000 Ice Hockey preliminaries

Hachinohe Athletics Park CAPACITY 12,000 (4,000 temporary) Speed Skating

OWANI TOWN

Owani Bowl Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined – CAPACITY 15,000 Ski Cross – CAPACITY 10,000 Alpine Skiing – CAPACITY 23,500 Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton – CAPACITY 12,000 All seating is temporary.

IWAKI TOWN

Biathlon, Cross Country – CAPACITY 150,000 (20,000 seated) All seating is temporary

AJIGASAWA TOWN

Freestyle Skiing (Aerials, Moguls) – CAPACITY 15,000 Snowboarding – CAPACITY 25,000 All seating is temporary

NAGANO

Big Hat Arena CAPACITY 9,500 Ice Hockey preliminaries

TOKYO

Yoyogi Park Arena CAPACITY 10,500 Ice hockey preliminaries

SAPPORO

Sapporo Community Arena CAPACITY 12,150 Ice hockey preliminaries

THE CITY IN 2018

With one of the most compact bid plans in decades – couple with easily accessible venues – Aomori presents a new concept of Olympic Games. The city is rapidly expanding – thus this is the perfect time to stage an Olympics. Future construction can be altered for Games related infrastructure. A new Olympic village will rise next to the temporary 45,000 seat Aomori Bay Olympic Ceremony Stadium – which will host the ceremonies as well as victory ceremonies. Every athlete will be housed for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games to the standard of a four star hotel. After the Games the stadium will be dismantled, the village will become part of the new Prefectural University and the legacy will be assured with a new Olympic museum. The city centre will be closed to traffic – with a new bypass already under construction. The entire heart of Aomori will become one giant meeting place for the world. Huge temporary awnings will guarantee a safe and dry environment as well as promote interaction. A new covered pedestrian walkway will link the city centre to the ceremony site. Along the path will be the new 6,000 seat permanent amphitheatre – base for the Cultural Olympiad and the venue for all Paralympic victory ceremonies. Over 10,000 new hotel rooms will be added to the Prefecture’s already existing 24,000 rooms. A new 5 star hotel will be built adjacent to the Sports Complex for the IOC, with another downtown for VIP visitors. A comprehensive homestay program will make another 22,000 beds available, as will two luxury cruise liners. With a new dedicated Shinkansen link to Tokyo, as well as the new airport (currently under construction), getting into and around Aomori and Japan will be easy. An Aomori Games will truly be a stress free experience for all spectators.

An Olympic experience

The underlying philosophy of the Aomori bid is to make the Games as accessible for as many people as possible. By sharing the events with Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagano, we aim to complete the Japanese Olympic circle. The majority of event tickets – 80% in fact – are priced at less than ¥5,000 (US$49 approx). Every event except the ceremonies, figure skating and the ice hockey finals will fall within this category. That is over a million tickets. Every single other event will have a minimum of 50% of all tickets priced below ¥10,000 ($US98 approx). Top category Opening Ceremony tickets will top out at ¥50,000 ($US490 approx) – making the Aomori Games the most affordable Games since Lillehammer in 1994. The ticket breakdown will be rigorously monitored. Due to the low cost of staging the Games in Aomori, sponsors will be offered comprehensive packages that are not reliant on ticket quotas. A maximum of 15% of tickets will be reserved for the IOC, NOC’s and sponsors. No more, no less. Of the remainder – 70% are for the local market in Japan – of this 60% will be sold exclusively in the Aomori Prefecture. 30% for International markets. All International sales are planned to be completed by August 2017, with all unused tickets then handed back to the local market sales team. This ticketing scheme will revolve around a single domestic ballot followed by staggered sales on an event by event basis. As an example – one week all remaining Ice Hockey tickets will go on sale. The next week all Biathlon tickets will go on sale. As the staggered sale commences (via the Internet, phone and in person) tickets will remain onsale until sold out. This is the fairest way.

In conclusion –

2018 is the Games where the

Olympic fan and Athletes come first.

The People’s Games – Aomori 2018.