The newly appointed minister of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games says his immediate priority is to build trust between the central government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government over funding the international sporting extravaganza.
Appointed to fill the new Cabinet position on June 25, former vice minister for sports Toshiaki Endo, 65, said in a group interview Wednesday in the Cabinet Office that he hopes to use his personal connections to smoothen the relationship between the two parties, which are feuding over the ballooning costs for the controversially huge new national stadium in central Tokyo.
"My immediate role is to work as a coordinator to help them to build a trusting relationship," Endo said. "To do that, I want to meet with the Tokyo governor and members of the metropolitan assembly as soon as possible to establish trust as the first step toward an all-Japan effort."