The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has been promoting the 2020 Olympics over the past few weeks, as this month marks exactly three years before the big event. As part of the festivities, the mascot competition, which sought Olympic mascot designs from the public, closed on August 10 and received over 2,000 submissions. The decision process will begin on August 22, and the winner will be announced in February next year.
Now that the most important aspect of the Games are done (the mascot deliberation), we can breathe a sigh of relief. Or so we thought. There are few public events in Japan without a literal song and dance, and the Tokyo Olympics are no exception. The “Tokyo Gorin Ondo 2020” song, the official tune for the 2020 Games, comes complete with matching moves. The original song was written and recorded for the 1964 Tokyo Games and has had a lyric revamp, along with new choreography that is supposed to be more inclusive. However, for those of us with two left feet it looks pretty complicated. Then again, we have three years to learn the dance, so perhaps that’s enough.
The official video features singers and dancers decked out in Tokyo 2020 yukata, which can be bought at the event’s official merchandise shop.
Before you brush off the video as a simple means of promotion, be aware there is a humorous guide on how to (and how not to) do the dance, including hilarious consequences if you get it wrong.
For those serious about learning how to dance correctly, there is a full dance guide for the whole song, complete with English subtitles:
Will you be learning these moves ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games?
