The Makuhari Messe in Chiba is due to host three Olympic and four Paralympic sports at Tokyo 2020 ©Makuhari Messe

Chiba Mayor Toshihito Kumagai has visited London in a bid to gain understanding and knowledge of staging Olympic and Paralympic events ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Kumagai’s Prefecture, located around 50 kilometres from the Japanese capital, is set to host fencing, wrestling and taekwondo at the Olympics, as well wheelchair fencing, taekwondo, goalball and sitting volleyball at the Paralympics.

Events are due to be held at the Makuhari Messe, one of Japan’s largest convention centres.

Further competitions could also take place in Chiba, with the town of Ichinomiya earmarked as a potential venue for surfing.

The sport was officially added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme along with karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and baseball/softball at the International Olympic Committee Session prior to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Kumagai, who became Japan’s youngest Mayor when he was elected in 2009 aged 31, told Kyodo News that he is targeting turning Chiba and the surrounding area into the "sacred site of wheelchair competitions".

He stressed the need to make sure the Games are promoted "as a package" rather than as two separate entities.

The Mayor of Chiba visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park during his time in London ©Getty Images
The Mayor of Chiba visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park during his time in London ©Getty Images

"In an ideal society there will be an environment where those with disabilities and those without play sports together," said Kumagai.

"We have to consider the Olympics and Paralympics as a package, and try to leave a legacy as the host of both events."

The Chiba Mayor met with a number of officials and organisers involved with the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, including Simon Cooper, head of sport at the Greater London Authority, and visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Kumagai used the visit as an experience-gathering exercise, with his city one of only a few to play host to events during the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Most sports will be based in the Japanese capital, although rowing and canoeing could be moved 400km from their initial Sea Forest venue to the Naganuma rowing course in Tome as part of potential budget cuts.

It follows a report being commissioned by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, which stressed drastic changes, including switching venues, might be made to avoid the budget ballooning to ¥3 trillion (£22 billion/$30 billion/€26 billion), four times its original value.