Jan 25 (NHK) - A huge monument featuring the Olympic symbol has been lit up in Tokyo six months before the Japanese capital hosts the Games.
A ceremony was held on Friday in Tokyo's Odaiba area attended by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Yasuhiro Yamashita.
Koike called for people's support to boost excitement for the games as well as for the Olympic torch relay that starts in March. She said she hopes to make both the Olympics and the Paralympics hugely successful.
The governor and the JOC chief switched on the lights of the five-ring monument, erected at the sea at Odaiba Marine Park, one of the Olympic venues. The monument is 33-meter wide and 15-meter tall.
Loud applause erupted among spectators when about 600 fire works were set off, including ones in the five Olympic colors.
The monument will be lit up nightly until the Olympics end on August 9. After that it will be replaced by the Paralympic symbol.
