TOKYO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A hot spring resort in northern Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture was selected by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday as the site of the Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting in 2008, Kyodo News reported.

    The Lake Toya resort was chosen mainly because its location in rural mountains facilitates security measures, government sources were quoted as telling.

    The other three candidates are all combinations of cities. Yokohama and Niigata, which are about 300 kilometers away, have proposed to host a port cities summit, and the ancient Kyoto, the industrial Osaka and the Hyogo prefecture in Japan's Kansai region have claimed to stage a Kansai summit.

    Abe will formally announce his choice in the evening, Kyodo said.