The Japanese Olympic Committee study group tasked with selecting Japan's candidate for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games will make a two-day visit next month to Osaka and Yokohama, the two cities trying to attract the international event, the JOC said May 21.
The JOC study panel finalized the details of the visits during its first meeting May 21 at the committee's headquarters in Tokyo. Panel members will go to the two cities between June 10 and 13, it said.
Twenty-eight sporting associations to be involved in the Summer Games will also visit the cities to check venues and facilities as specialists in their events. They will each submit reports to the JOC study group by early July as part of the selection process.
Yushiro Yagi, secretary general of the JOC and head of the study group, said, "Because the people of the two cities are heating up their bids, we would like to make a decision clearly and without causing any confusion." The JOC will make a final decision on Japan's candidate for the Games by mid-August.