The Tokyo Olympics Holy Fire Relay entered Wakayama Prefecture on the 9th, started Shingu City, visited nine cities and towns in the prefecture, and the last runner finished the first day with a goal in Wakayama City.
The Tokyo Olympic torch relay, which started in Fukushima Prefecture, will be handed over from Mie Prefecture to Wakayama Prefecture, the first in the Kansai region, and will tour 14 cities and towns in the prefecture in two days until the 10th.
On the 9th of the first day, we started in Shingu City in the southern part of the prefecture, and entered Wakayama City through Kushimoto Town, the southernmost tip of Honshu, and Shirahama Town, one of the leading tourist destinations in Kansai.
At around 7:45 pm, Rie Tanaka, who was born in Wakayama City and was the last runner on the 9th and is the representative of the Gymnastics Women's London Olympics, arrived at the tourist destination "Wakayama Marina City" in Wakayama City.
After that, an event called "Celebration" was held to celebrate the arrival of the torch, and when the torch was lit on the prepared "Torch Plate", the people who visited the venue gave a big applause.
Mr. Tanaka said, "I am happy to be able to run in my hometown of Wakayama. I was able to run firmly with the thoughts of many people."
In Wakayama Prefecture, the number of people infected with the new corona reached a record high of 44 on the 9th, and local government officials were holding placards along the road, calling attention to avoiding crowds and wearing masks.
So far, there have been no problems due to congestion along the road.
On the 10th of the second day of the torch relay, Wakayama Prefecture, we will start Wakayama City and connect the six cities and towns to Hashimoto City over the world heritage site Koyasan.
The executive committee of Wakayama Prefecture and others are calling for support through live broadcasting via the Internet.