This was my third trip to Japan following the breathtaking World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, and the 1994 Asian Games at Hiroshima.

The Asian Games is almost as big as the Olympics and the organisation and friendliness could hardly be faulted.

So there was little doubt as I touched down at the brand new Kansai Airport that Osaka would bring the same qualities to the Olympic top table.

I wasn't disappointed - the concept is stunning.

The Commission though, was less enthusiastic about the planned transport arrangements.

This seemed strange to me after my experience on the silky smoothness of the Bullet Train, the clean and airy Metro trains, and observing the sparse road traffic at what was called rush hour, but bears no resemblance to the London version.

The Olympic project also includes a Metro link to the sports island, on a loop to the city which can move 30,000 people an hour in each direction.

A leisurely visit to the temples and shrines of nearby Nara and Kyoto provided a welcome haven of tranquillity to the visit, and would provide major tourist attractions to Olympic visitors.

But with the ban on IOC visits they will all remain unknown and unseen by the men who vote.

Major misunderstanding

Of all the cities, the IOC ban on member visits is probably the most harsh for Osaka.

Sometimes na�ve, but always helpful and enthusiastic, the Bid Committee, headed by the chairman and mayor of the city, Dr Takafumi Isomura, has put forward a project that without much doubt, would deliver a Games of the highest quality.

But they have suffered because of a major misunderstanding over the budget which led the Evaulation Commission to report its severe doubts over the financial viability of the bid.

Osaka answered the criticism with the true figures - a difference of some US$25bn - but it is probably too late.

A potentially brilliant concept, by a city widely unknown to IOC members, is likely to disappear unknown and undervalued in the early rounds of voting.

The Osaka bid | Clickable cities guide