Japan to Give up Plan to Put Retractable Roof on Olympic Stadium

Tokyo (PNA/Kyodo) — The Japanese government intends to give up on putting a retractable roof on the new stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as it is reviewing the main venue’s building plan after scrapping the earlier plan due to soaring costs, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.

Without the retractable roof, total construction costs will be held down and it will also allow the stadium to be completed by the spring of 2020, the deadline set by the government, the sources said.

Japan will, meanwhile, keep the capacity at 80,000 seats in accordance with the request from the Japan Football Association, which hopes to host the Soccer World Cup in the future, they said. (PNA/Kyodo) JBP/SSC