Breaking News English

The torch relay for the Tokyo Olympics finally under way. The 2020 Summer Games were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic but organizers have determined to they go ahead in July. Members of the Japan women's football team as torchbearers in the first leg of the relay on Thursday. It in Fukushima Prefecture, which devastated by the triple disasters of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. The relay torch is of aluminium recycled from prefabricated housing built for survivors of the triple calamity. Fukushima was as the start of the relay to show the area has , although many people say claims of recovery a little premature.

The head of Japan's Olympic organizing committee, Seiko Hashimoto, the torch relay ceremony. She said in her opening address: "The flame will on a 121-day journey and will the hopes of the Japanese people and wishes for peace." Japanese people are encouraged to look at live broadcasts of the relay and from travelling to watch it amid fears of a spike in COVID 19 cases. Spectators must face masks, and are being urged to clap rather than . Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga his commitment to a "safe and secure" Olympics in spite of the pandemic. He said: "We will our utmost on coronavirus measures."