**
It was an unexpected, strange, yet excellent opportunity for me to
participate in the 1967 Pre-Olympics as an athlete for the Japanese luge
team and then become an Olympic official. I later become Olympic
attaché for the city of Grenoble in 1968 Winter Games. My observations
and experiences in these two different roles enriched me with behind-thescenes
knowledge of the Olympic movement. They also affected my view
of the politics in the Olympics. Most people believe that the Olympic
Games are an athletic competition and cultural festivity for youth.
However, the untold secret is that the Olympics are a time when special
salons are held behind closed doors for aristocrats and noble families as an
Olympian reunion.
There is an important rule of thumb that prohibits the disclosure of
any information about the kinds of private parties and salons that go on
Pat the Olympics. Consequently, the reader should look between two lines
of this book without missing its tacit knowledge. However, I would like
to suggest a hint: one secret of the aristocratic salons lies in the book cover
designs use the Olympic rings with crowns. Many princes and noblemen
disguised themselves as leaders, managerial advisors, and patrons of each
team during the Olympic competition, and they were also elegant hosts
and guests at the Olympics’ private evening parties.
This book is not Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s epic of the romantic
and stormy life of Wilhelm Meister, but just the story of my modest and
short apprenticeship years, along with an Olympic rhapsody in Grenoble,
during the late 1960’s.
The 1960’s were a wonderful period for the original Olympic vision of
Baron de Coubertin, who proclaimed that athletes should be gentlemen
who considered only amateurs as a qualified participants. At this time
sport professionals were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.
Professional athletes were deemed to have an unfair advantage over those
whose training was merely a pleasure and hobby. It was also a time when
Coubertin’s Olympic spirit was still respected and supported by the
majority of athletes. Coubertin’s belief was that the most important thing
in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part. It signifies life is less
about triumph than the struggle in life itself.
Commercial and media saturation were also less predominant than
today. The degrees of financial involvement and commercialism were far
more modest. I was very lucky to be an eye-witness at this turning point of
Olympic character and behavior.
The stories about the Winter Olympics described in this book are
gathered from my diary and records I wrote on memo pads during my
stay at the University of Grenoble. I arranged these stories in the style of a
semi-documentary novel from 1970 until the spring of 1971, and aimed to
have this book published before the start of the Sapporo Winter Olympics
in February 1972.
