Their proposed Olympic bid, which comes after Tokyo failed in its bid for the 2016 Olympics, would aim to promote a nuclear-free world. Hiroshima hosted the Asian Games in 1994.
"We are aiming for the abolition of nuclear weapons in 2020. If we are engaged in Olympic bidding activities in parallel, it is expected to produce a synergetic effect," Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told a news conference in Hiroshima yesterday. "The Olympics started as a festival of peace in the first place. In this sense, too, our bid will be appropriate."
Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue added: "If we can co-host the Olympics, it will send a message to help bring about peace."
The International Olympic Committee is due to announce the 2020 host city in 2013. Rome and Venice are reportedly preparing to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Cape Town, Durban, Dubai and Rabat have also been mentioned as possible candidates.
