AP Interview: Tokyo leader vows Olympics, policy leadership

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:31 p.m. ET

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TOKYO (AP) Tokyo's first female leader says she will use her platform to host a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly 2020 Olympics and push a women's rights agenda that she hopes will be a model for Japan's central government.

Yuriko Koike, elected Tokyo governor in a sweeping victory last month, said in an interview Monday that ''reduce, reuse and recycle'' of waste and temporary facilities would be her slogan for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. The estimated cost of hosting the Olympics has spiraled.

A veteran national lawmaker who has held top Cabinet posts, Koike said she aims to achieve women's advancement, diversity and policies such as animal rights beyond what the central government has done. The 64-year-old conservative faces challenges from the male-dominated ruling party that she defied to run for governor.