Tokyo has been named host destination for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Japanese capital was selected by the International Olympic Committee members during the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires, beating off competition from Istanbul and Madrid.

Tokyo received 60 votes to Istanbul’s 36 in the final round, with Madrid having been eliminated in the first round after losing a tie-breaker with Istanbul.

Tokyo, which also bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, previously hosted the Games in 1964.

“Congratulations to the city of Tokyo on its election as host of the 2020 Olympic Games,” said IOC president Jacques Rogge, whose 12-year term in office comes to an end on September 10th.

“Tokyo presented a very strong technical bid from the outset – and it needed to in competition with two such high-calibre bids from Istanbul and Madrid.

“All three cities were capable of staging excellent Games in 2020, but in the end it was Tokyo’s bid that resonated the most with the IOC membership, inviting us to ‘discover tomorrow’ by delivering a well-organised and safe Games that will reinforce the Olympic values while demonstrating the benefits of sport to a new generation.”

Princess Takamodo of Japan addressed the IOC, speaking of her own passion for sport as well as the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami in 2011.

Her presentation is thought to have swayed last minute voters.

Tokyo will become the first Asian city to host the Games twice.

Referring to the ongoing leak from the Fukushima nuclear power station that has contaminated the water around the plant, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe revealed: “The situation is under control.

“It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.”

The 2016 Summer Olympics will be in Brazil.

The Winter Olympics will be held in Russia in 2014 and South Korea in 2018.