The Pros And Cons Of Stadiums

Despite nearly all stadiums yielded only minimal economic benefits, Japanese officials continue to push for new facilities and public money continued to be spent. Horne argued this is a result of “nation building” and suggested the political reason behind the continuing injection to the construction sector. He also mentioned the Japan’s economy is the product of an ‘Iron Triangle’; construction industry chiefs, senior bureaucrats and politicians; rather than stimulating the economy in a Keynesian approach and strengthening the economy. (Horne, 2004) In Japan, the construction and civil engineering industries have long underpinned its political economy; for instance in 1993, 43% of national investment was injected to the construction and in comparison Japan outspent the USA on construction by a ratio of 2:6:1. As of 2000, the size of Japan’ public works is three times the size of the UK, USA or Germany, was responsible of employing seven …show more content…
This has perhaps proven the Japanese stadiums have turned into white elephants and causing heavy burden to the locals. (Watts, 2002) With the fear of not meeting the international standard of hosting football matches, converting the three football-only stadiums – Saitama, Ibaraki and Kobe will put the Japanese Football Association in risk of losing three world class stadiums and may hinder the development process of football in Japan. However on the other hand, referencing to the usage in Miyagi, one of the major stadiums for 2002 World Cup, the venue will only stage two J-League games in the whole season and the only other major event planned is a music concert by a music band; the income is expected to cover only around a fifth of the stadium’s 280 million yen annual maintenance cost. (Perryman,