Despite the recent efforts of the Olympic host cities to sustainable hosting of the Games and Tokyo’s vision of the 2020 Olympic Games as a showcase of its cutting-edge urban technology and civil pride, hosting of this international mega-event comes with various potential pitfalls related to unsustainability. It is therefore essential that the sustainability of the Olympic Games is carefully reviewed and evaluated by the internal and external experts in each stage of its life cycle -- pre-game, games-time, and post-games. Scientific data collection and objective monitoring will help the Olympic delivery bodies (the Local Olympic Games Organizing Committee, the
City authority, and the State) to make informed decisions and avoid the pitfalls implied in the hosting of the games. Such an examination exercise could prove to be valuable both for the Tokyo Olympic Games and for subsequent large global events. Drawing on the expertise of the University of Geneva’s Institute for Environmental Science (ISE) and Keio University’s Keio Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) and taking advantage of the two universities’ close involvement in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Impact Study, the proposed program aims to (1) reassess the historical development of the Olympic Games’ efforts on sustainability; (2) analyze the 2020 Tokyo Games as a political catalyst to improve the city’s sustainability issues; and (3) explore a model for Tokyo’s post-Games sustainability strategies and recommendations for future host cities, with special reference to the SDGs.