As reported by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the Hokkaido-Sapporo 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Promotion Committee would be responsible for engaging businesses and sport communities to gather nationwide momentum for bid.

This new body would be established in collaboration with the Japanese Olympic Committee.

Akimoto explained that the city is seeking to progress efforts to return the Winter Games to Sapporo, which held the 1972 Winter Olympics.

"We will deepen discussions on the significance of holding the Games so that the benefits of the Games can be brought to Japan as a whole in the 2030 Games," the Mayor said, quoted by the Sapporo Television Broadcasting.

"We announced that we will establish a Promotion Committee next month by gathering experts from the political and business world and the sports world."

Akimoto has said Sapporo has no plans to hold a referendum on the 2030 bid, but the City has revealed the results of various survey of 10,000 citizens.

A breakdown of the 5,775 responses received through email showed that 52.2 per cent supported hosting the Games to some degree and 38.2 per cent opposed the proposal, with 9.1 per cent unsure.

Sapporo City claimed that this showed young people were most supportive of the Games at 59.8 per cent of 18 and 19-year-olds and 55.0 per cent of 20 to 29-year-olds.

The 30 to 39 age bracket most strongly opposed the plans at 41.6 per cent of respondents.

The mail survey also showed that offering dreams and hopes to children was the most popular reason for hosting the Games, cited by 24.1 per cent of respondents to the mail survey.

A total of 20 per cent of opponents referenced a desire for the City to focus on other measures.

At today's press briefing, Akimoto vowed to engage with sceptics during the development of the Hokkaido-Sapporo 2030 bid.

"I would like to take seriously the fact that there are a certain number of opposition voices and continue to explain the anxieties and concerns that those who answered opposition have," he said, as reported by NHK.

Public opposition was notably strong when Japan held the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year, with polls regularly showing that a majority of respondents did not want the Games to take place and protests held over inflating costs and a COVID-19 surge.

However, Akimoto believes that Sapporo's bid to stage the Winter Games in eight years' time has received significant backing.

"We feel we were able to receive a certain amount of support for the bid," he said.

The Mayor has claimed that at least 92 per cent of venues that would be used are currently in existence.

Fellow former Winter Olympic hosts Vancouver and Salt Lake City, and former Summer Olympics host Barcelona together with the Pyrenees, have also declared their interest in staging the 2030 Games.

It is set to be the first Winter Olympics and Paralympics awarded under the new process whereby the International Olympic Committee (IOC) engages in a targeted approach with selected countries, as opposed to a more traditional bidding race.

The IOC's Future Host Commission then identifies and proposes its preferred candidate to the Executive Board, which can then recommend the bid be put forward to a vote at an IOC Session.