FUKUSHIMA — Japan’s Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa told reporters on Thursday she hoped the public’s sentiment towards the Tokyo Games would improve as the torch relay proceeded.
Japan officially began the Olympic torch relay in Fukushima on Thursday, kicking off a four-month countdown to the Summer Games in Tokyo, which were delayed from 2020 and are the first ever organized during a global pandemic.
The Japanese public has soured on the event due to concerns over the pandemic.
—Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Tom Hogue
