Suzuki was reappointed as Japan’s Olympics Minister on Thursday (April 11), a day after the departure of the controversial Yoshitaka Sakurada.

Suzuki had served as Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games from August 2017.

He left the post last October, before being succeeded by Sakurada.

“I hope Mr Suzuki will recover trust and lead us towards a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, according to AFP.

During his first spell in the role, Suzuki attended International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission meetings.

Suzuki also visited venues used for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympics last year, which was claimed to be an opportunity to learn from their hosting of the events.

He had been expected to return to the role following the departure of Sakurada and will hope to provide stability following his predecessor’s turbulent seven-month spell.

Sakurada had been forced to resign for remarks that offended people affected by the earthquake and tsunami which triggered nuclear meltdowns in 2011.

Sakurada quit after saying that Liberal Democratic Party politician Hinako Takahashi, from the northeastern region, is "more important than the [region’s] recovery", when he gave a speech at a fundraising party.

The March 2011 tsunami killed around 18,000 people and swamped the Fukushima nuclear plant, sending its reactors into meltdown and leading to the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

More than 50,000 people have not returned to their home towns.

The Japanese Government has been trying to use the "Reconstruction Olympics" as an opportunity to help rebuild the country following the disaster.

Sakurada had issued an apology when submitting his resignation to Abe on Wednesday (April 10).

He had already faced criticism for controversial comments on swimmer Rikako Ikee's diagnosis of leukemia in February, suggesting it would dampen enthusiasm for the Olympics.

"I'm really disappointed," he said, adding: "I'm worried that the swell [for the Games] might go down a bit."

Sakurada, who doubled as the Government’s cyber security strategy chief, also admitted in November that he does not use a computer.

Earlier this year, a survey carried out by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun claimed 65 per cent of respondents said Sakurada was not suitable for the job.

Abe had issued an apology earlier this week for his appointment of Sakurada.