"Arup is proud to have played a part in renewing Beijing [2008] and London in advance of the Olympics and is looking forward to continuing our contribution to the 2020 Tokyo Games," said Jerome Frost, the Arup director who was head of design and regeneration for the London 2012 Games.

"Through our experience in preparing cities for the Olympics and other international events, the firm has been responsible for much of the urban renewal of the host cities, ensuring the events serve as a catalyst for long-term investment and development."

Arup's service for the Tokyo Olympics includes a masterplan review, advice for and cross-sectorial specialty areas such as transport, security, sustainability and legacy.

Jointly with partner consultant AECOM, Arup will also advise on the venue briefs and contribute to the strategy development for overall delivery of design and construction through the preparation stage to the legacy transformation.

The Arup-designed Aquatics Centre at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, known as the Water Cube ©Getty Images

The London-based agency's global multidisciplinary team will be having a series of workshops in Tokyo with the client team to review and discuss various issues related to the venues in the Tokyo Bay Zone and Heritage Zone in the heart of Tokyo for the successful delivery of the Games and the post-Games legacy.

Arup has already been instrumental in providing consulting services to the design stages of  project to build Tokyo's new National Stadium.

The local office of the global firm will serve as the key link between London and Tokyo as it progresses.

"Our team based in the UK assisted Zaha Hadid in winning the international architectural design competition for the main stadium by advising on bowl geometry and building engineering," said Arata Oguri, deputy office leader in Tokyo and an employee of the company since 1991.

"In Tokyo, we have carried out design services for the framework phase as a member of the design joint venture with leading Japanese players.

"We are hoping that the team's involvement in the project will continue over the following phases of schematic design, detailed design and site supervision, which will last until 2019 when the Stadium will become one of the venues hosting the Rugby World Cup,"

With some 60 staff in Japan - and around 11,000 worldwide - Arup has been behind some award-winning buildings around the world, including in Tokyo.

It can take the credit for the structural and facade engineering of the 20-storey Sony City, as well as being the structural engineer behind the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, winner of the award for 2008 Skyscraper of the Year.

And the company has plans to raise its profile further here.

Arup have been involved in the early work for the new Zaha Hadid-designed National Stadium in Tokyo being built for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics ©Japan Sports Council

"You may hear that the country's economy is stagnating or shrinking for various reasons, but it is still huge and our share to date is tiny, leaving a large scope for further business growth," said Oguri.

The company ensures it stands out from the competition by making the most of its internationally developed specialist skill sets, a global network that reaches most corners of the world and its bilingual and multi-cultural capabilities, it is claimed.

"Our turnover in Japan is a little less than one per cent of our total, which may sound negligible," Oguri said.

"However, our presence in Japan is important in that Japanese players are getting more and more active in the third countries.

"We have no doubt that our Japan-related business will increase in the future."

Contact the writer of this story at mike.rowbottom@insidethegames,biz