Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike agreed Tuesday to work together to ensure the success of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, eschewing for now talks on how the financial burden should be shared.
Koike said after meeting with Abe in the Prime Minister's Office that the metropolitan government and the central government did not hold any working-level discussions Tuesday on topics such as the budget for the games.
The 2020 organizing committee last month presented its first draft of the total cost — set at between ¥1.6 trillion and ¥1.8 trillion — at a four-party cost review panel involving the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo organizers and the national and metropolitan governments.
The key outstanding issue is the division of construction costs for temporary facilities, which at the time of the bidding process were to be completely covered by the organizers using such revenue as sponsorship income.
The organizers are proposing that some of that cost be taken up by the central government, the Tokyo metropolis and municipalities that will host events. But municipalities outside Tokyo have expressed reluctance to pay.
Abe, Koike and organizing committee chief Yoshiro Mori are expected to come to a broad decision on the division of costs before the end of the current fiscal year in March.
Abe and Koike last met in August, shortly after the latter took office.