12 July 2018

Tokyo 2020's Olympic Torch Relay will start from the disaster-hit prefecture of Fukushima on March 26 that year, it was announced here today.

Organisers also confirmed the Torch Relay would last 121 days, concluding in Tokyo on the day of the Opening Ceremony on July 24.


This is comprised of 114 "operational" days and seven transportation days.

The Torch will head back in the direction of Fukushima when it visits Iwate from June 17 to 19 and Miyagi from June 20 to 22.

Reports had claimed the Organising Committee were considering starting the relay in Okinawa, the starting point for the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Torch Relay.

The details were confirmed following a multi-party meeting between Tokyo 2020, National and Metropolitan Governments, the Japanese Olympic Committee and the Japanese Paralympic Committee here.

Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi - the three most regions most affected by the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsumani - will all welcome the Torch as it makes its journey to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic host city.

Nearly 16,000 people died when the natural disasters struck the area seven years ago and Tokyo 2020 embracing the worst-affected areas in several areas of their plans.

The Torch will stay in each of the disaster-hit prefectures for three days during the relay, which carries a theme of "Hope Lights Our Way".

It will also spend 15 days in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area starting from July 10, 2020 and three days in each of the four prefectures which will host multiple events during the Olympics - Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Shizuoka.

Two days will be spent in each of the other 39 prefectures of Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south.

Under International Olympic Committee rules, the Olympic Torch Relay is capped at 100 days but the organisation approved a request from Tokyo 2020 to extend it beyond that traditional limit.

The exact route and design of the Torch are yet to be revealed by Tokyo 2020.

It was also confirmed following the meeting here today that a working group would be established to determine how they set up the Olympic Cauldron at the National Stadium.

The Cauldron from the 1964 Games in Tokyo is currently being housed at Ishinomaki.

Read more: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1067368/tokyo-2020-confirm-olympic-torch-relay-to-start-in-f...


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