Futaba Town in Fukushima added to Olympic Torch Relay route

Tokyo 2020 today announced that Futaba Town in Fukushima, a municipality evacuated in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, has been added to the Olympic Torch Relay route on its opening day (26 March 2020).

Last month, the government announced it would lift its evacuation order for certain parts of Futaba Town and it was subsequently decided to add these to the Olympic Torch Relay route following a request from the governor of Fukushima prefecture.

Starting out at J-Village National Training Centre in Fukushima Prefecture, a facility that has become a symbol of Fukushima’s reconstruction, the Olympic flame will traverse 859 local municipalities across all 47 prefectures of Japan, passing by many of the nation’s most famous and cherished sights over its 121 days.

In addition to building excitement across the country ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games and promoting the Olympic values, the Olympic Torch Relay aims to demonstrate solidarity with the regions still recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami under its slogan “Hope Lights Our Way”.

During its journey through Fukushima Prefecture, the Relay will pass through the city of Iwaki and the towns of Naraha, Hirono, Okuma, Futaba, Namie and Tomioka, as well as the villages of Kawauchi and Katsurao.

Its journey through the prefecture will end at the celebration venue of Hibarigahara, the main site of the “Soma Nomaoi” wild horse festival in Minamisoma City.