Japan Selects Nagano for 1998 Winter Bid

The city of Nagano in central Japan was selected Wednesday as Japan’s candidate for host of the 1998 Winter Olympics, a Japan Olympic Committee official said.

The selection was made in a vote by 45 JOC members, with Nagano receiving 34 votes, according to JOC official Satoshi Yamakawa.

Nagano, 112 miles northwest of Tokyo, outpolled three other cities--Asahikawa, in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, Yamagata, 182 miles north of Tokyo, and Morioka, 289 miles north of the capital.

The host city for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games will be selected at an International Olympic Committee assembly in 1991 in Birmingham, Britain.