Japanese Olympic superfan back with a bang in Paris

Japanese Olympic superfan Kyoko Ishikawa had to watch the Tokyo Games from her couch three years ago, but she is back with a flag-waving, whistle-blowing bang in Paris.

The 54-year-old businesswoman had not missed a Summer Games since 1992 until a pandemic-enforced spectator ban meant she had to watch an Olympics taking place in her home city on TV.

Now she is making up for lost time in the French capital, armed with a sheaf of tickets and determined to spread the message of Olympic peace and friendship wherever she goes.

"It's been eight years since we've been allowed to go to the venues and mix with others and support the athletes," she told AFP in the Paris apartment she is renting during the Games.

"It feels like that kind of Olympics is finally back, and I'm very happy."

Ishikawa has tickets for 21 events in Paris and said the cost of the trip has been "priceless".

She turned heads as she made her way to watch judo at the Champ-de-Mars Arena dressed in the traditional Japanese outfit and 'hachimaki' headband she always wears to Olympic events.

Children and adults stopped to say hello, taking group photos with her and exchanging Olympic pin badges under the sweltering Paris sun.

It was a far cry from the atmosphere at the Tokyo Olympics, where strict antivirus rules meant fans were banned from most venues.

Ishikawa watched the Tokyo Games from her living room and she said she "had to be creative and find a new way of enjoying it".

"Until then, you could only meet the people who actually went to the Olympics, but in Tokyo, because you had to watch it online, you met other people doing the same," she said.

"It was a new way of supporting and mixing with people."

- Party people -
Now that she is in Paris, mixing with fans from all over the world, Ishikawa said "the memories of what the Olympics are all about are coming back".

"Actually being in the venues and seeing the athletes performing right in front of you, challenging the limits of what humans can do -- that's the real pleasure of the Olympics," she said.

Ishikawa's Olympic obsession began on a 1992 backpacking trip to Barcelona, where she managed to buy a cheap ticket to the opening ceremony and was blown away by the atmosphere.

She has since attended every Summer Games in person bar Tokyo, and has got to know other Olympic superfans from around the world.

She is visiting Paris for only the second time, and says the city has become much more international and welcoming since she was there 30 years ago.

"The first thing people say to me is 'arigato' ('thank you') and 'konnichiwa' ('hello')," she said.

"Thirty years ago when I came to Paris, there wasn't much recognition of Japan or Asia in France. Now Japanese anime is very popular and people know a bit of Japanese."

Ishikawa is not bitter about being shut out of the Tokyo Olympics, and she thinks organisers were right to go ahead with it despite strong opposition in Japan to holding it in the middle of the pandemic.

She got soaked watching the Paris opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine, but she is too busy enjoying herself to let anything dampen her spirits.

"People from over 200 countries come together in one place for just two weeks and mix together," she said.

"It creates a very special environment and energy. It's a unique event."