Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Tuesday that Tokyo will bid for the Summer Olympics in 2016 or later.

The Tokyo metropolitan government will appoint an officer to lead the bid on Oct. 1 and set up a preparatory committee by the end of October, Ishihara told an assembly meeting.

Tokyo, which hosted the games in 1964, may have to compete against the Japanese cities of Sapporo and Fukuoka, which are also pondering bids.

Bids don't need to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee until 2007. The host city will be selected in 2009.

Japanese cities interested in hosting must apply with the Japanese Olympic Committee by the end of next June, and the committee will reportedly draw up a list of candidate cities by the end of next year.

Source: Xinhua