The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have decided to keep the Olympic flame in the capital city after displaying it for a month in Fukushima Prefecture.
The flame was brought to Japan from Greece on March 20. Torch relay was scheduled to start at the J-Village soccer training center in Fukushima on March 26. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed to postpone the Games just two days earlier.
NHK has learned that the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee has decided not to hold a torch relay, but will instead use a lantern to carry the Olympic flame across Japan.
Officials close to the matter say the committee decided that the torch relay won't come until it reaches a final conclusion with the International Olympic Committee on whether or not to postpone the Games.
The organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics say that a welcome ceremony for the Olympic flame will feature a flyover by an acrobatic flight team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
The organizers said on Thursday that the team of fighter jets, known as Blue Impulse, will fly in formation to draw five huge circles with colored smoke, representing the Olympic symbol, at the welcome ceremony on March 20.