Upper house adopts resolution backing Tokyo's Olympic bid+

TOKYO, March 18 Kyodo -
The House of Councillors adopted a resolution Wednesday in support of Tokyo's
bid to host the 2016 summer Olympic games.

Tokyo's bid was backed at an upper house plenary session by a majority vote of
the ruling coalition parties -- the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito
party -- plus the Democratic Party of Japan and Japan Renaissance Party.
A similar resolution was adopted Tuesday at the House of Representatives.
In the resolution, the upper house vowed to unite and do what is necessary to
bring the 2016 Games to Tokyo. The resolution recognizes the need for concerned
parties to do all they can for preparatory work for the summer games.
A parliamentary resolution is said to be an important factor for the
International Olympic Committee in selecting an Olympic venue.
The Tokyo government and concerned organizations, including the 2016 organizing
committee, headed by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, is expected to intensify its
bidding activity on the strength of the upper and lower house resolutions.
Chicago is believed to be the main rival to Tokyo with the backing of newly
elected U.S. President Barack Obama, who used to work in the city as a senator.
Madrid and Rio de Janeiro have also made bids.
The IOC plans to conduct on-site observations of the candidate cities in April
and May and select the host city by secret ballot on Oct. 2 in Copenhagen.
==Kyodo