The plan includes an opening message from the city’s Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto, who says he believes a successful bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics is very important to Sapporo’s future.

"Sapporo is a city where winter sports culture has become intertwined with residents lives," writes Akimoto.

"As such we have many competition facilities and a track record of hosting many international competitions, giving Sapporo ample potential to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"Hosting the Games and the efforts for it will lead Sapporo to a brighter future. We will strive to host these Games."

Sapporo previously hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972, and organisers say their vision for 2030 includes "passing on the winter sports city established in 1972 to the next generation."

Other visions include "creating infinite possibilities by connecting sports with other fields, such as culture, education, economy, tourism and the environment", and "connecting Sapporo with the rest of the world."

The draft plan includes a venue masterplan, with a focus on using facilities presently used by residents, including some venues that were part of Sapporo 1972.

The Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium, which hosted ski jumping in 1972, has been provisionally listed as hosting the sport again, as well as the ski jumping element of the Nordic combined discipline.  

Meanwhile, the Sapporo Tsukisamu Gymnasium, which hosted ice hockey in 1972, has been provisionally listed as a curling and wheelchair curling venue as part of the 2030 bid.

The Makomanai Park Indoor Stadium, provisionally listed as an ice hockey venue for 2030, hosted the Closing Ceremony, figure skating and ice hockey venues at Sapporo 1972.

The Nishioka Biathlon Stadium, which was built to host biathlon in 1972, is listed as the provisional venue for biathlon, Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing, while the Sapporo Teine, which hosted Alpine skiing’s slalom and giant slalom competitions in 1972, is provisionally listed as a venue for 2030 for Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, Para Alpine skiing and Para snowboarding.

The Sapporo Dome, which hosted football matches during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, is planned as the venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the Medal Plaza.

Regarding an estimated budget for organising the Games, the draft plan claims that "in principle no public funds will be used", and a contingency fund of approximately 10 per cent of the budget will be used to respond to unforeseen circumstances, such as the coronavirus pandemic that forced the delay of Tokyo 2020 by a year.

The draft plan puts the budget scale for the Games at approximately ¥200 billion (£1.3 million/$1.7 million/€1.5 million) to ¥220 billion (£1.4 million/$1.8 million/€1.7 million).

As part of efforts to push its bid, the bid team say they will promote dialogue with residents through workshops, symposiums and this year’s 50^th anniversary of Sapporo 1972 to communicate its ideas.

Sapporo is currently conducting continuous dialogue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding its bid, although this could be shifted to targeted dialogue if approved by the IOC Executive Board.

Sapporo is one of a host of locations to have launched bids for 2030, along with Salt Lake City in the United States, Barcelona in Spain, Vancouver in Canada and Ukraine.