Oct 1: Tokyo hopes for carbon-free Olympics

Tokyo's Olympic bid boasts 80 per cent public support and Japan hopes that winning the 2016 games will energise the nation in the face of the financial crisis and record unemployment. The Japanese capital hosted the Olympics in 1964 when the government unveiled the 'bullet train' to mark Japan's emergence as an economic power. Tokyo is promoting its public transit system and a plan that would place 95 per cent of Olympic venues within 8km of each other.