Around 600,000 tickets were allocated to almost 160,000 people through the first ticket lottery for the Paralympics, which Parsons says far exceeds the lofty heights set in London in 2012.

"The demand for tickets experienced during the first Tokyo 2020 Paralympic ticket lottery is unprecedented and like nothing we have seen before in Paralympic Games history.

"London 2012 set the benchmark high with 116,000 applicants in their first ticketing window back in 2011, but the Japanese public have completely blown this figure out of the water with around 390,000 applicants.

"This is further proof that the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are on course to be the best and most exciting yet. 

"The key now is to sustain this demand until all tickets for the Games are sold."

Tokyo 2020 announced the ticket demand was spread across all 22 Paralympic sports.

Chief executive Toshiro Muto added: "I am glad that people in Japan have such high expectations for the Paralympic Games and are showing such interest in them. 

"We look forward to everyone cheering on the athletes from all over the world and helping to bring out many personal best performances at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games."

Ticket prices for the Paralympics, between August 25 to September 6, range from just ¥900 (£6.40/$8.30/€7.40) to a maximum ¥7,000 (£50/$64.50/€58).

Opening and Closing Ceremony tickets will cost from ¥8,000 (£57/$74/€66) up to ¥150,000 (£1,070/$1,380/€1,240).

A second ticket lottery will be held in Japan next year, starting in spring, with tickets issued on a first-come, first-served basis globally.

Tickets may only be purchased via authorised channels, and Tokyo 2020 urges all prospective ticket purchasers to be aware of unauthorised or potentially fraudulent ticket outlets.

Applications from Japan residents can only be made on the Tokyo 2020 official ticket website, with pre-registration necessary.

Overseas ticket applications must be done through authorised ticket resellers and launch dates for sales will be announced in due course.

People wishing to purchase tickets from the official ticket website living outside Japan will be able to do so from the spring.