Sapporo has submitted its interest to host the 2026 edition of the Games but could delay its attempt until 2030 depending on how the contest plays out.

Ishikawa has told Japanese agency Kyodo News that the next step in the process is to come up with an estimated cost of the event, before presenting that to residents and measuring their support through a survey.

"We have no hope of hosting the Games...if the residents reject it in the survey," he said.

"We just need to do everything we can to build momentum."

Ishikawa added that there are some who say Sapporo would be better to host the Winter Olympics in 2030, by which time the Hokkaido Shinkansen, a Japanese high-speed rail line, is expected to reach the city.

Sapporo played host to last year’s Asian Winter Games, an event which Ishikawa claimed that many International Olympic Committee (IOC) members had praised in an interview with insidethegames in February.

"Sapporo has received high marks for its ability to host and manage the Games," Ishikawa told Kyodo News. 

"But there have been remarks that East Asian countries are hosting successive Games with Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022, and [the host cities] lack geographical balance."

"Countries, some with experience of hosting the Games, have applied, meaning it will probably be an extremely difficult campaign for us."

Sapporo, the capital city of Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture, previously hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics.

An Athletes' Village could be held in Makomanai, close to the Sapporo 1972 site.

New apartments could be built to house athletes alongside a private hotel.

Residents living in apartments in the 1972 Village site could then move into the new building after the Games, it is hoped.

An initial poll cited by Ishikawa in February supposedly found that 66.7 per cent of Sapporo's population supported the bid.

They hope that Japanese medal success at Pyeongchang 2018, as well as cost reduction measures taken in conjunction with the IOC will boost the bid.

"The major facilities of our winter-sport-loving city were used during the 1972 Olympics," Ishikawa told Kyodo News.

"We need to think about what to do about those 46-year-old facilities, even if we don't host the Games.

"The city has been explaining to the residents that is why the bidding comes at this particular time."

Sion in Switzerland is already due to hold a referendum in June on whether to bid or not for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Canadian city Calgary, which staged the 1988 Games, is among the other contenders along with Graz in Austria and Stockholm in Sweden. 

Erzurum in Turkey has announced plans to bid as well.

There may also be a joint Italian bid from Milan, 2006 hosts Turin and 1956 hosts Cortina d'Ampezzo.

A host city is due to be chosen by the IOC at its Session in Milan in September 2019.