Tokyo to bid for 2020 Summer Games, Hiroshima might join: Gov. Ishihara

(AP) - TOKYO, Nov. 9 (Kyodo)

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Monday the Japanese capital will bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and should Tokyo be selected, it will jointly organize the event with Hiroshima, which is also seeking to host the event.

The remarks follow Tokyo's loss to Rio de Janeiro last month in the race to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Hiroshima said shortly after Tokyo's loss that the western Japanese city will seek to host the 2020 Summer Games with Nagasaki, both of which suffered U.S. atomic bombings during World War II, despite the Olympic Charter stipulating that only one city can host the Olympics.

On Monday, the Japanese Olympic Committee welcomed Ishihara's remarks about a fresh bid by Tokyo, with Vice President Tomiaki Fukuda saying, "It is truly great."

Another vice president, Masato Mizuno, said, "It has been common in recent years for a city to make several bids to host the Olympic Games. It is completely natural for Tokyo to make another bid."

However, some Tokyo metropolitan assembly members and government officials questioned Ishihara's latest remarks, noting that the governor intends to retire in April 2011 at the end of his third term.

"April or May next year would be the time limit for our applying with the JOC," the governor told reporters at the metropolitan government office. "It is my responsibility to declare (Tokyo's) bid."

But Ishihara added that his successor will have the final say on the matter.