TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan coach John Kirwan fears a successful Japanese bid for the 2018 soccer World Cup could have a negative economic impact on rugby’s premier competition in 2019, unless the two sports work closely together.

The former New Zealand great told Reuters on Tuesday that the proximity of the two events could make it harder for 2019 hosts Japan to secure spending on Asia’s first rugby World Cup.

“It could be a negative rather than a positive,” Kirwan said. “A one-year difference is a bit tough with how the economy is.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan has 13 prospective venues should the country win the right to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, the country’s bid leaders said on Thursday.

Japan has bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups despite initially saying it would only do so if Tokyo won the vote to stage the 2016 Olympics. Rio de Janeiro was picked to host those Games.

The Japan Football Association (JFA) plans to use nine of the 10 venues from the 2002 World Cup which the country co-hosted with South Korea.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Nagasaki has abandoned its ambitions to host the 2020 Olympics after the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) rejected a joint bid with Hiroshima.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue informed the city’s local assembly of the decision on Friday but offered full cooperation to Hiroshima should the city table a solo bid.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – A proposal by Hiroshima and Nagasaki to table a joint bid for the 2020 Olympics has been rejected by the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC).

The mayors of both cities were informed of the decision by Japanese Olympic boss Tsunekazu Takeda and advised to consider individual bids.

“JOC president Takeda conveyed to them we must uphold the Olympic charter so co-hosting is not possible,” the JOC’s Olympic cooperation director Yasuhiro Nakamori told Reuters on Friday.

“It’s possible Hiroshima could make a solo bid. The city staged the 1994 Asian Games. But it would be a bit difficult for Nagasaki to stage such a big international event.”

Takeda held talks with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — the only cities to have suffered a nuclear attack — in Tokyo earlier on Friday and refused to rule either venue out.

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki both have a very good chance of staging an Olympics on their own,” Takeda told reporters.

Tokyo, which lost out to Rio de Janeiro in October’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote for the 2016 Games, is also in contention to become Japan’s 2020 bid city.

The identity of Japan’s bid city for the 2020 Summer Games could remain a mystery until 2011, Nakamori said.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s cabinet has endorsed the country’s bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.

Kyodo said the government does not plan to fund any infrastructure costs but pledged to cooperate with security, transportation and immigration issues if Japan was successful in winning the right to host the tournament.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Debt-ridden Japanese club Oita Trinita have been bailed out by the J-League after being on the brink of bankruptcy.

The league’s administrators had decided to lend Trinita around 600 million yen ($6.72 million) as part of a special fund set aside for clubs in financial peril, Japanese media reported on Wednesday.

J-League officials estimate Oita’s cumulative losses at more than a billion yen.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Yamaha Jubilo rugby club will release their entire professional playing staff as part of cost-cutting measures by owners Yamaha Motors.

Jubilo said on Monday that all 17 professionals, including nine foreign players, would be let go and the team would be made up solely of company employees from next April.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo has a civic duty to dust itself down from the failed 2016 Olympic bid and reapply to host the 2020 Games, the city’s governor said on Friday.

The Japanese capital lost out to Rio de Janeiro in last month’s 2016 vote but Shintaro Ishihara insisted Tokyo had the motivation and funds to try again.

“We did spend money on the (2016) bid but we have the finances set aside for such big projects,” Ishihara told a news conference.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo officials say they have not been informed of city governor Shintaro Ishihara’s desire to bid for the 2020 Olympics.

Tokyo lost out to Rio de Janeiro in last month’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote to decide the hosts for the 2016 Games, but Ishihara is reportedly keen for another shot.

“There’s been no formal announcement,” the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s international affairs officer Noriko Hachiya told Reuters on Wednesday.

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LONDON (Reuters) – Formula One can expect Japan’s departed carmakers and companies to return eventually but it could be a long wait, according to championship-winning team boss Ross Brawn.

Brawn’s former Honda team pulled out last December while Toyota followed this month and Bridgestone, Formula One’s sole tyre supplier, have announced they will leave at the end of next season.

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