Olympics: Hiroshima, Nagasaki good candidates for 2020 Games: Tokyo Gov.+

TOKYO, Oct. 14 Kyodo - Outspoken Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Wednesday that Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be good candidates to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

''For world peace, to have the Olympics in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only
cities in the world subjected to nuclear bomb attacks, means a lot,'' Ishihara
told reporters.
''I'm ready to give them advice as much as I can. I know it's difficult to
attract the Olympics unless the entire nation works together.''
The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki expressed their desire Sunday to host the
2020 Olympics, just a week after Tokyo failed in its bid to host the 2016
Games, which went to Rio de Janeiro.
Asked if Tokyo will bid for the 2020 Olympics as well, Ishihara said, ''That's
what the next governor decides.''
Ishihara is serving his third team as governor, which expires April 2011.
On the International Olympic Committee's negative stance toward the two
Japanese cities' proposal to co-host the Olympics, the Tokyo governor said,
''Whether there is precedent or not, the IOC just needs to be practical.''
==Kyodo
2009-10-14 23:04:57