Japan Olympic win boosts Abe, but Fukushima shadows linger

The Tokyo bid committee estimates the world's third-biggest economy will get a boost of more than $30 billion with the creation of 150,000 jobs

Japan savoured its victory on Monday in the race to host the 2020 Olympic Games, anticipating an economic boost to spur its revival from two decades of stagnation and help it recover from the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

But while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bold gamble to throw himself into the Tokyo bid paid off handsomely, his claims to have the problems of the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor under control ran into fresh resistance.

The Japanese capital's decisive win over rivals Madrid and Istanbul boosts Abe's fortunes after he put his reputation on the line for the bid, and a brisk gain for Tokyo shares suggests a boon as well for national confidence, a key ingredient in the success so far of Abe's aggressive pro-growth policies.

The Tokyo bid committee estimates the world's third-biggest economy will get a boost of more than 3 trillion yen ($30 billion) with the creation of 150,000 jobs. The Nikkei stock index gained 2.5 per cent on Monday, while some analysts predict a short-term boost of 10 per cent. The examples of the London and Athens suggest a one- to three-month rally after winning the right to host the games.

But Tokyo, which held Asia's first Olympics in 1964, is now preparing for the world's biggest sporting extravaganza as the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl continues to unfold just 230 km from the Japanese capital.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, has recently been forced to reverse denials and admit that hundreds of tons of radioactive water are pouring into the Pacific Ocean each day. Radiation levels near tanks that leaked highly radioactive water have spiked, and the operator of the plant has voiced concerns that contamination may reach groundwater.

Abe said in Buenos Aires, where Tokyo's victory was announced by the International Olympic Committee, that the plant is "under control".