Japan's government has approved a plan for a nearly 150 billion yen ($A2 billion) contract with a joint venture to build a new main stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Officials on Friday said the stadium construction would begin in December, more than a year after an earlier plan was scrapped because of spiralling cost and an unpopular design.
The Japan Sport Council, a government-funded organisation operating the project, said the stadium was scheduled for completion at the end of November, 2019.
An earlier design by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid had risen to 265 billion yen ($A3.5 billion), more than twice the forecast amount.
The stadium delay is part of Japan's trouble-plagued preparations for the Olympics, underscoring widespread lack of cost control.
