Olympics-Tokyo promises to dazzle IOC in 2016 vote run-up

TOKYO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Tokyo's bid leaders have promised to uncork some un-Japanese razzmatazz in the final two weeks before the Oct. 2 vote to decide the 2016 Olympic host city.

"Whoever we have asked in the IOC (International Olympic Committee) believes Tokyo's plan is the best," Tokyo's bid chairman Ichiro Kono told Reuters on Thursday.

"Now we need to show the passion Tokyo has. We know that technical excellence without passion won't wash, so we will talk to IOC members face to face and drive that passion home."

Tokyo, which hosted Asia's first Olympics in 1964, faces competition from Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro in the race to host the 2016 Summer Games.

Kono also made a public plea for new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to attend next month's IOC vote in Copenhagen.

"We expect the prime minister to go," Kono said. "We understand he is extremely busy organising his new cabinet but we will continue to ask that he joins us.

"We believe he should come. That's the feeling of the athletes and officials."

Tokyo bidders also refused to rule out an appearance in Copenhagen by Japanese Emperor Akihito.

Barack Obama's landslide victory in the United States presidential election last November was seen as a boost to his home city Chicago's chances.

The American president is sending First Lady Michelle to Copenhagen for the International Olympic Committee vote while he stays at home to push his campaign for health reform.

ROYAL VISIT

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Spanish King Juan Carlos have signalled they will go to Denmark.

"I'm confident the IOC will look at each bid on its individual merits," said Kono. "It's not about (celebrity)."

Tokyo's waterfront bid has scored highly in the IOC's evaluations for its technical merits and the fact 95 percent of the venues will be within a radius of eight kilometres.

"That compactness gives Tokyo a big advantage," Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara told reporters. "If (IOC president Jacques) Rogge is serious about athletes coming first."

Tokyo officials told their final news conference before leaving for Copenhagen that public support for the bid now stood at more than 80 percent.

They also say Tokyo is best-placed to survive the global financial crisis and stage a debt-free Olympics.

"We have the financial power and the best environmental credentials," said Ishihara. "Japanese people are just not very good at displaying their emotions -- but we do have them.

"I used to be a sailor and the clouds and winds would forewarn how the journey would be. In this battle it is extremely difficult to read the waters and predict how it will turn out." (Editing by Sonia Oxley; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)