TOKYO, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Tokyo will launch a bid to host the summer Olympics in 2016 or beyond, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Tuesday.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara was scheduled to make the announcement Tuesday afternoon at a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly meeting, saying there "was no other place" in Japan but Tokyo to hold the games, considering Tokyo's capacity and facilities.
The governor said that hosting the Olympic Games in Tokyo would act as a "detonator" to break through the sense of stagnation in Japan.
A committee will be set up at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in October to prepare for the bid.
Ishihara made his first reference to an Olympic bid Aug. 5. He met with former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Japan Sports Association, Sept. 16, and they reportedly agreed to make efforts to see a bid through.
In order for Tokyo to formally become a candidate, the metropolitan assembly must present a declaration of Tokyo's intentions to the Japanese Olympic Committee by June 2006.
