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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.

After weeks of speculation, Japan's Prime Minister says the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed because of the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Shinzo Abe says: "We agreed that we will hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics no later than the summer of 2021. We are committed to holding the Games in a complete form when we can prove that human beings have overcome illness caused by the new coronavirus."

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 International Olympic Committee has decided to start discussions with Japanese organizers about the future of the Tokyo Games, including the possibility of a postponement. The IOC plans to reach a decision within four weeks.

But the sources say the Olympic torch relay will start in Fukushima Prefecture next Thursday as scheduled.

The Olympic flame for the Tokyo 2020 Games has arrived in Japan from Greece.

A special transport plane carrying the flame landed at the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Matsushima Base in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Friday, 90 minutes earlier than scheduled.

The Olympic flame has been handed over to Tokyo at a ceremony in Athens. The flame will leave for Japan on a special flight on Thursday.

The event was held at the ancient Panathenaic Stadium in Athens around noon on Thursday.

The head of the French Olympic Committee says the coronavirus pandemic must have reached its peak by the end of May for the Tokyo Olympics to be held on schedule.

Denis Masseglia made the remark in a telephone interview with the Reuters news agency on Monday.

NHK has learned that arrangements are under way for International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to watch the 2020 Olympics' first baseball game, which will take place in Fukushima Prefecture.

An underlying theme of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan and triggered a nuclear accident in Fukushima.

Japan's top government spokesperson says Tokyo will steadily proceed with its preparations for the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the remark on Wednesday, following a statement from the International Olympic Committee.

A Japanese Cabinet minister says organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are working on preparations for the torch relay to be held later this month as planned.

The relay is scheduled to start on March 26 in Fukushima Prefecture.

Families in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, have made bamboo lanterns in preparation to welcome the Olympic flame for the 2020 games.

The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, and transported on March 20 to Japan's Self Defense Force Matsushima base in Miyagi Prefecture.

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.

Participants in the torch relay for the Tokyo Olympic Games held a rehearsal on Saturday in the city of Hamura, western Tokyo.

The rehearsal was staged by Japan's Olympics organizing committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and sponsor companies.

A group of Japanese researchers have discovered a new species of marine worm in the bay where Tokyo Olympic triathlon events are scheduled.

Researchers from the National Institute of Polar Research and Toho University said they discovered what they believe to be a new scavenger species of Ophryotrocha worm.