Japan

Yoshiro Mori, the head of the organising committee for the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympic Games, has hinted that he will step down as president of the Japan Rugby Football Union after undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

Construction of a new stadium that will serve as the centrepiece of Tokyo’s staging of the 2020 summer Olympic Games will begin in October, after the venue’s management group confirmed that demolition of the existing facility on the site will be completed by September.

World Rally Championship organiser WRC Promoter has targeted a return to China and Japan as a priority for the motor racing series.

City Football Group, the global football organisation which operates current English Premier League champion Manchester City has formally launched operations in Japan.

The Japanese Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is reportedly considering a bid to stage the 2020 World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) alongside the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games of the same year.

Organisers of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan have selected 12 host cities for the national team tournament, with Yokohama securing its place as the second largest venue despite missing the initial bid deadline.

The International Olympic Committee executive board has approved plans by organisers of the 2020 summer Olympic Games in Tokyo to change three venue locations.

The Japanese government plans to establish a new sports agency, while an additional cabinet ministerial post will be established ahead of Tokyo’s staging of the 2020 summer Olympic Games, it was announced today (Friday).

A combined European baseball team will be fielded for the first time to take on world No.1 Japan in a new competition formed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said the decision on which new sports are to be added to the Tokyo 2020 programme will be delayed a year until August 2016 in the “interest of transparency.”

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is to stage events in Japan and Belgium for the first time in a move that marks the latest stage of the organisation’s global expansion plans.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced the addition of a further six sports to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics programme, with taekwondo set to feature at the Games for the first time.

Japanese automotive giant Toyota is poised to return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) for the first time in over a decade after confirming it will enter the motorsport series in 2017 with a car developed and built entirely at its Cologne technical centre.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS) are targeting a place on the programme for the 2020 summer Olympic Games, the World Snooker governing body has announced.

The Japanese leg of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is set to switch from Suzuka to Motegi after a new race deal was signed that will take effect from the forthcoming 2015 season.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has announced a partnership with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) granting Japan co-hosting rights to its new Premier 12 national team competition.