Hiroshima and Nagasaki consider bidding to host 2020 Olympics
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have decided to set up a joint committee to consider bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Hiroshima Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi and Nagasaki Mayor Taue Tomihisa announced the decision on October 12 at a press conference in Hiroshima.
Akiba said that the two mayors intend to invite municipalities that are located between Hiroshima and Nagasaki to participate in the joint committee.
Akiba is the president of the Mayors for Peace, an international group composed of 3,147 cities in 134 countries. Taue is its vice president. The Mayors for Peace General Conference is held every four years in Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki.
Akiba emphasized that the Mayors for Peace is calling for nuclear weapons to be totally eliminated by 2020, the year of the Summer Olympics.
"It will be great if the two cities can host the Olympics as an event marking the abolition of nuclear weapons," Akiba added.
The Japanese Olympic Committee will examine the proposal to see if the two cities' bid is possible in light of the Olympic Charter and make a final decision next spring.
- Akahata, October 12, 2009