Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay starts in Fukushima

The torch relay of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics started in Fukushima on Thursday, kicking off a four-month countdown to the delayed summer Games, which will be held from July 23 to August 8.

The rose-gold, cherry blossom-shaped torch was lit at the J-Village sports complex in Fukushima, which served as a base for operations responding to the 2011 nuclear disaster.

Seiko Hashimoto, head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, told a small group of dignitaries and the media attending the ceremony she believed the event would bring hope to those around Japan and the world during the global pandemic.

(CGTN)