Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium architect Kengo Kuma denied claims that he stole the design from famed British-Iraqi planner Zaha Hadid.

SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Kengo Kuma, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium Architect (on his new stadium design)

"My design and Zaha's design have completely different approaches in the concept of the architecture. We are looking are at a building structured like a saddle versus our flat structure of the building. I think it is easy to understand that it is fundamentally a different building, despite the similarities."

SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Kengo Kuma, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium Architect (on foreigners having difficulty working on Tokyo 2020 projects)

"From my own personal point of view, communicating and holding meetings might be difficult for foreigners in Japan because Japanese people have their ways of doing things. Japan needs to work harder to really open its doors to make it a more welcoming environment for people from other countries to work in."

SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Kengo Kuma, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Stadium Architect (on factoring in security concerns in his design)

"Issues of security has become a very important factor these days. There is no guarantee that an attack would not happen in Japan, so I would like to put some detailed efforts into the security of the building."