It will then cross all of Japan's 47 prefectures, travelling to 857 municipalities, and pass by many iconic landmarks over a period of 121 days. Around 98 percent of Japan's population live within one hour by car or train of the proposed route, Tokyo organisers added. The torch relay will take in World Heritage sites such as Mt Fuji and the Miyajima shrine in Hiroshima prefecture famous for its "floating" gate. Tokyo beat Madrid and Istanbul in the race to host the 2020 Olympics, including the reconstruction of disaster-hit areas in its candidature file. The Greek leg of the torch relay will then run for eight days before the flame is handed to Tokyo 2020 in Athens on March 19.

Source: The Nation Bangkok June 01, 2019 06:00 UTC