Mar 13 (Kyodo) - The Japan leg of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic torch relay will start at a soccer facility in Fukushima Prefecture that is considered a symbol of the country's reconstruction from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said Tuesday.
The J-Village national soccer training center was used as an operational base for dealing with the 2011 nuclear crisis. It became well known in disaster-hit northeastern Japan after accommodating thousands of workers engaged in the cleanup at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, located some 20 kilometers away.
The Tokyo Olympic organizers announced in July 2018 that Fukushima would be the starting point for the relay, in a move aimed at highlighting the country's efforts to recover from the nuclear disaster as well as the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.
With Tuesday marking 500 days to go until the Tokyo Games, Mori also announced the cities in three disaster-hit prefectures where the flame will be displayed before the relay.
