Flame-lighting events were held across Japan on Thursday ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic torch relay, which starts next week.
Unlike the Olympic torch relay, which used a flame that was transported to Tokyo from Olympia in Greece, the Paralympic torch relay will use a flame that is the combination of flames lit in various locations at ceremonies that reflect the characteristics of each region to express the Paralympic principle of "unity in diversity."
The flames will eventually be brought together to form a single flame at an event in Tokyo before the Paralympics kick off.
A flame-lighting event was held Thursday at the Light of Hope monument in Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate Prefecture, which was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The gaslight at the monument has been burning since December 2011, and a flame from a similar monument in Kobe to commemorate the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake was used to light it.
Naomi Fujiwara, the head of a local residents group that oversees the monument, participated in Thursday's Paralympic flame-lighting ceremony.
"When people see the flame, I hope they will remember that it contains our prayers for the souls of the victims and our wishes for reconstruction," said Fujiwara, 77.
According to the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, more than 880 municipalities in 47 prefectures had declared that they would participate in flame-lighting events. However, some local governments have since decided to scrap their plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Paralympic torch relay will be held from Tuesday in the four prefectures that will host events -- Tokyo, Shizuoka, Chiba and Saitama.
Flames from across Japan will be brought together at an event in Tokyo on Aug. 20. The Tokyo leg of the Paralympic torch relay is scheduled to take place on Aug. 21 to 24.
As Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama prefectures have decided that torchbearers will not carry the flame on public roads, lighting ceremonies and other events are being planned instead.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
