Tokyo was chosen as the "safe pair of hands" to host the 2020 Summer Olympics on Saturday, beating Istanbul and Madrid at the International Olympic Committee's general session.

The Japanese capital will be the first Asian city to host the Olympics twice, having also hosted the 1964 Games. Japan will be hosting its fourth Olympics. Sapporo and Nagano hosted the 1972 and 1998 Winter Games, respectively.

In a secret ballot by IOC members, Tokyo beat Istanbul 60-36 in the final round to decide the host city after Madrid was eliminated in the first round. While it did not garner the majority of votes in the first round, Tokyo had 42 votes, the most among the three cities.