Japanese parliament enacts bill to create Olympics minister

TOKYO (AP) The Japanese parliament has enacted a bill to create a ministerial post in charge of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Olympics minister will coordinate work among related government agencies ahead of the games.

Toshiaki Endo, a former senior vice education minister, is seen as the top candidate and is expected to be appointed in June.

Up until now, the education, culture, sports, science and technology minister served as minister for the Olympics. But the government views it crucial to create the post of a dedicated cabinet minister to accelerate preparations for the games.

Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori welcomed the enactment, saying, ''The most important thing is that the government and the organizing committee work together as one for the preparations.''