Organizers in Japan on Wednesday unveiled the “cherry blossom” shaped torch for the 2020 Olympic Games as the city prepares for the famed flower season to begin in coming days.
The torch will carry the Olympic flame from Athens to Tokyo in a relay set to start in exactly one year. The pink-gold 1.2 kg and 710 cm torch feature the traditional emblem of the Sakura, or cherry blossom using the same cutting-edge technology that is used in Japan’s bullet trains, the organizers said.
The five Sakura petals cut in the head of the torch represents the five Olympics rings and flames will burn from each petal of the favorite flower of Japan.
Torch designer Tokujin Yoshioka was inspired by the children’s drawings of cherry blossom as he evolved the concept and made from the aluminum construction waste from temporary housing built for the victims of the 2011 quake and tsunami.
Fukushima was chosen as the starting point of the Olympic torch relay and the passing of flame is scheduled to start on March 26, 2020.
The designer added that the flame was designed in such a way that it will not go out even during the typhoon as Japan wants to showcase recovery in regions devastated by the disaster and dubbed 2020 Olympics the ‘ Reconstruction Olympics.’
