Work has started on the new National Stadium that will be used as the main venue when Tokyo hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics. Due to public criticism over the expected construction cost of over US$2.5 billion, the original plan by Zaha Hadid was scrapped at the last minute. The scaled-down design by Kengo Kuma's team will still cost US$1.5 billion and the city will have to come up with innovative ideas on how to fill the 60,000 seats once the games are over. The completion in November 2019 will not be in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which the country will host during the autumn of the same year.
The new stadium will be built on the site where the former 1964 Olympic Stadium used to stand before it was demolished in 2014.