Tokyo's recently appointed governor has claimed the success of London's Olympics will help it succeed in its own bid to host the 2020 Games.
Naoki Inose, an author and judo black belt who was in London during the summer for the 100m final, said that its success showed that the International Olympic Committee does not have to find new territories to grow the appeal of the Games.
Launching Tokyo's international campaign, its bid leaders dismissed concerns over radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster and a territorial dispute with China. They also said that levels of public support, which were lukewarm during the bid for the 2016 Games, have improved considerably since Japan's impressive showing in London.
The Japanese capital, the bookmakers' favourite, is up against Madrid and Istanbul to host the 2020 Games. Inose, who met with London mayor Boris Johnson during the 2012 Games, said Tokyo would provide a similar atmosphere to London.
"When a Games is staged in a developing nation, sometimes they bring in so much and make it stuffy and heavy. But in the case of the London Games, they were organised in a sophisticated way and in that sense London and Tokyo deliver a similar image," he said.
Tsunekazu Takeda, an IOC member and president of the Japanese Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 bid team, also highlighted its similarities with London.
"London 2012 gave us an additional lesson in how to host. Seb Coe and his team demonstrated the importance of preparation and attention to detail. They showed how early, efficient delivery meant that they had time to focus on the vital extra elements that take any Games from good to great. I'm talking about things like city dressing, cultural events and, of course, the wonderful Games Makers," he said.
"Now, we believe we have plans that will see Tokyo stage Games that will also inspire a generation. We will host a dynamic celebration, fuelled by the amazing passion of Japanese sports fans and that will ignite the imagination of the entire world."
Tokyo has hired a British firm, Seven46, that worked on the successful London and Rio de Janeiro campaigns, to develop its key messages in light of criticism that presentations had let Japan down during its previous bid.
As well as emphasising its economic stability, safety and infrastructure, Tokyo's bid leaders will have to come up with a compelling narrative to secure the votes of IOC members swayed in previous votes by the persuasive cases made by London and Rio.
Inose said that the natural and nuclear disasters that had hit the country in the past two years had increased the importance of securing the Games to the people of Tokyo and Japan.
"Since the bursting of the bubble economy in 1990, GDP was hovering at a very low range. In that context, a lot people lost their lives from the tsunami and we suffered from the nuclear accident," he said.
"The big question is how we can formulate a new hope for the Japanese people. The most important thing is to set an uplifting objective of the Japanese people."
But bid leaders dismissed questions over whether the knock on effects of the nuclear disaster would impact on its bid, saying radiation levels in Tokyo were of the same low levels as London.
In the midst of an ongoing global recession, the launch of Tokyo's international campaign in London made much of the $4.5bn budget already set aside by the city to pay for new infrastructure.
A new main stadium, designed by Zaha Hadid with moveable seats and a retractable roof, is to be constructed on the site of the venue for the 1964 Games, and will be built regardless in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup which will be hosted in Japan.
An IOC inspection team will visit the bidding cities in March and prepare a report for IOC members by July. In the same month the bidders will present their case to the IOC executive board in Lausanne, before the final vote in Buenos Aires in September.
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