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Japanese Government Regrets Over Osaka's Failure in Olympic Bid
The Japanese government expressed regret over Osaka's failure in its 2008 Olympic bid while congratulating Beijing's success.
"It is regrettable that Japan's enthusiasm was not reflected in the voting by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). We will cooperate with the Chinese government as much as possible for the Games' success," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said.
Fukuda made the comments after Osaka was eliminated in the first round voting out five bidders, including Beijing, Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka.
Beijing was chosen to host the summer Olympics with 56 votes in the second round.
Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka also said that she was "greatly disappointed" at Osaka's failure.
"As a neighboring country in Japan, Japan expresses its congratulations on the selection of Beijing and sincerely hopes that the Beijing Olympics will be successful," she added.
Tokyo hosted the 1964 summer Games, while the winter Olympics have been held twice in Japan, in Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano in 1998, respectively.
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