Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Monday the capital will bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and if successful will jointly organize the event with Hiroshima.
Tokyo lost to Rio de Janeiro last month in the race to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Hiroshima said shortly after Tokyo's loss that it would seek to host the 2020 games with Nagasaki, both of which suffered U.S. atomic bombings during World War II, despite the Olympic Charter stipulating that only one city can host the Olympics.
The Japanese Olympic Committee welcomed Ishihara's announcement about a fresh bid by Tokyo, with Vice President Tomiaki Fukuda saying, "It is truly great."
Another vice president, Masato Mizuno, said, "It has been common in recent years for a city to make several bids to host the Olympic Games. It is completely natural for Tokyo to make another bid."
During an executive meeting Monday, the JOC decided to set up a bid committee that will decide the screening process for Japanese cities and choose the nation's candidate by the end of next year.
However, some members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and government officials questioned the move, saying Ishihara intends to retire in April 2011 when his third term runs out.
"April or May next year would be the time limit for our applying with the JOC," Ishihara said at the metropolitan government office. "It is my responsibility to declare (Tokyo's) bid."
But he added that his successor will have the final say on the matter.