Next year's Tokyo Marathon will be a part of the World Marathon Majors made up of the top races around the world, it was announced Friday.

Tokyo Vice Gov. Naoki Inose believes the Japanese capital's inclusion in the 6-year-old series will provide a boost to the city's bid to the stage the 2020 Olympics, for which the hosting rights will be awarded next September.

"This will beam out to the world the attraction of Japan and Tokyo and boost the Olympic bid," said Inose.

London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York are also part of the WMM circuit. For both men and women, the winner of the series — based on a points system that also counts the Olympics and world athletics championships over a two-year period — receives $500,000.

The Tokyo Marathon started in 2007 and now has a capacity of 35,000 runners. It is labeled a gold road race by the International Association of Athletics Federations.