Tokyo’s bid committee for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games is promoting its bid and will hold a poll to garner support.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the government appointed 41 former Olympic athletes as “hometown special envoys”, and sent them to their native cities to boost the bid.
Starting Monday the government is promoting its bid to the estimated 720,000 commuters who use the 30 stations on the Toei Oedo Line daily, with publicity material about the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile Tokyo’s metropolitan government and the bid committee are planning to conduct an opinion poll to establish whether there is support for hosting the Games. The survey is reportedly part of an effort to raise public awareness of the significance of hosting the Games. The metropolitan government hopes to ensure more than 70 per cent of people support its bid.
The survey is expected to be held between the end of this month and early December. The poll may be conducted on the Internet with the hope of at least 1,000 people participating.
The results of the survey will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in January.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo’s bid has so far lacked enthusiastic public backing so the government and the bid committee launched a massive promotional campaign this month.
One member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly who has been trying to get signatures for a petition backing the campaign said “many people won’t sign”.
