SAPPORO (Kyodo) The city of Sapporo will not try to host the Summer Olympics in 2016 out of concern over the cost, sources close to Mayor Fumio Ueda said Saturday.
The mayor of Hokkaido's capital is expected to announce the decision Tuesday at a session of the municipal assembly.
The move would leave Tokyo and Fukuoka as the only cities in Japan that have declared a desire to host the games.
Ueda had long expressed skepticism toward the idea, saying he could not justify forcing a financial burden on the next generation amid snowballing welfare spending stemming from the graying of society.
He has said he will make a decision depending on the outcome of an opinion survey conducted on city residents in December, which showed 33.3 percent in favor and 35.3 percent against hosting the games.
Some 10,000 people residents were polled and the response rate was 51 percent.
The city estimates it would have to shoulder some 250 billion yen of the 1.8 trillion yen minimum it would cost to host the event.
The municipal assembly adopted a resolution last March calling on the city government to seek to host the games.
Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972. Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics in 1964. Fukuoka has never held an Olympics.