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Tokyo announces candidacy for 2016 Olympic Games

Tokyo, bidd0ing to host the 2016 Olympic Games, proposed yesterday that the world's most populous city be turned into a vast "Olympic park" that would be a role model for the 21st century.

"Only Tokyo can do it, I believe," said Ichiro Kono, head of the 2016 Tokyo Olympics Campaign Office, officially announcing the city's candidacy.

"It would probably be the first time that a city accommodating 35 million people turns into an Olympic park to host the Games," he said.

In the application package, Tokyo proposed hosting the full Summer Games in an 8km radius in the heart of the metropolis.

Kono said Tokyo would be an appropriate choice as it is a fully grown city facing a variety of modern challenges, such as an ageing population and concern about the environment.

"If Tokyo hosts the Olympics Games, it could show an urban model going into the 21st century to those facing 20th-century challenges," he said. "Tokyo would be able to be a role model to the world by hosting the Games."

Tokyo is hoping to host the Summer Olympics for the second time. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics were the first Games in Asia and a symbol of Japan's dramatic rebirth from the devastation of World War II.

Critics, however, have questioned whether the International Olympic Committee is ready to award the world's biggest sporting event to another Asian city after this year's Beijing Games. London is hosting the 2012 Games.

Tokyo officials earlier said the city was readying a world-first security system for the Summer Games that would scan the city in real-time, with computers automatically looking for match-ups with suspects on wanted lists.
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