Oyamazaki Town (2021 Host Town)

Kansai | Oyamazaki Town (Kyoto Prefecture)

2021 Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics

“En garde”! Together, Oyamazaki and Switzerland will be fencing, sharing, and celebrating a unique partnership on the road to 2021.

The Mount Tenno

Oyamazaki is located 15 kilometers south to the center of Kyoto, at the foot of Mount Tenno. There, in 1582, medieval lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi won the decisive Battle of Yamazaki, which later lead to the unification of Japan. Since then, the town has enjoyed peaceful times, experiencing a cultural boom during the early Edo period. Nowadays, international visitors can be found strolling at the Hoshaku-ji or Kannon-ji temples or meditating at Myoki-an, where the Taian tea ceremony room (National Treasure) is situated.

In the next few years, however, tourists might be surprised to notice that swords are making a comeback in the streets of Oyamazaki in the company of foreign, white-crossed red flags. Nothing to be afraid of: war is long gone, and Olympic fencing is about to march into the town!

Memories of the Jungfraujoch

Since 2016, Oyamazaki has indeed decided to become Switzerland’s Host Town ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The relationship between Oyamazaki and Switzerland dates back to 1910, when Shotaro Kaga (1888-1954), a wealthy businessman from the Kansai region, became the first Japanese citizen to climb Jungfrau summit (4,158 m.), one of Switzerland’s most iconic mountains.

Upon his return, Kaga built a private villa in the style of a Swiss chalet in Oyamazaki – which later was turned into the Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art. His descendants still live in Switzerland to this day, and have already visited the Japanese town. Owing to its heritage, Oyamazaki applied as Switzerland’s Host Town in 2016, and both parties agreed to a wise strategic decision: focusing on fencing.

Swords and handshakes

Aside from being very popular in both locations, many athletes excel in this discipline in Switzerland, where the modern version of the sport has been practiced since at least the mid-15th century. In total, 8 Olympic and 85 World and European championships medals have been awarded to Swiss fencers since 1953.

In 2018, the Japanese town also began negotiating with Morges for a potential sister cities agreement, in an aim to foster collaboration between their respective “Kyoto Future Fencing Club” and “Cercle d'Escrime de Morges”. On the road of the Games, the Oyamazaki Gymnasium will be put at the disposal of Swiss athletes.

Switzerland is coming to town

The Host Town Initiative was designed by the Japanese government in 2016 to promote educational and sports exchanges between the population living outside Tokyo, foreign countries and visiting Olympic teams before and during the 2021 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. In other words, pre-game training camps, showcases, lectures, workshops and festivals will be held all over the Town of Oyamazaki, providing Swiss athletes and Japanese locals with unique opportunities to meet, exchange and create new ties that will outlast 2021. Two successful Swiss Fairs have thus already been organized in the Japanese town in 2016 and 2017 to initiate its inhabitants to the culture of their new Swiss friends!

The same kind of events will simultaneously take place in four other Japanese cities: Fukushima City, Oita City, Fuji City, and Tsukuba City. Thanks to these special partnerships, the Swiss-Japanese friendship is set to enter the post-2021 period with a renewed vitality and creative power!