Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso supports Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics in hope that Iwate and other quake-hit northeastern prefectures may host some sporting events, the Japanese Olympic Committee chief said Thursday.
"Nine years from now will be a good time (to host the major sporting event) given that the prefecture's reconstruction is to be completed in eight years," JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda quoted Tasso as saying during their meeting at the local government office.
Takeda proposed that soccer and other sports competitions be held in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, all three prefectures badly hit by the March earthquake and tsunami disaster. In June, Takeda asked the governors of Miyagi and Fukushima to support the Olympic bid.
Miyagi Vice Gov. Shuichi Miura has been agreeable, while Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato so far has said simply that he needs to confirm how prefectural residents, whose lives are still greatly affected by the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, feel about the idea.