HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) Hiroshima and Nagasaki have decided to set up a joint committee that will try to bring the 2020 Summer Olympics to the atomic-bombed cities, their mayors said Sunday.
The announcement by Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima and Tomihisa Taue of Nagasaki came after Akiba expressed hope at an international peace meeting in Mexico City last month to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020 and to stage the Olympics in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that year to celebrate a nuclear-free world.
"The Olympics symbolize the abolition of nuclear arms and world peace, and we want to work to realize our plan to host it," Akiba said. He also said he will encourage municipalities other than Hiroshima and Nagasaki to join the bid committee.