Olympic flame going on display in Japan Olympic Museum

The Olympic flame is going on display in Tokyo, just a short walk from the new National Stadium where it was supposed to be burning a month ago.

The flame arrived in Japan from Greece in March and has been largely hidden away in Tokyo since the Olympics were postponed until next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The flame was unveiled Monday at a small ceremony with Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, and Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

“During COVID-19, I think athletes aiming for the Olympic and Paralympic Games are training hard each day — with great anxiety,” said Yamashita, a former Olympic judo gold medalist.“I am convinced that the torch displayed today will support the hearts of those athletes.”

The flame will be on display beginning today at the new Japan Olympic Museum for at least the next two months. Visitors can only enter the museum, which is located across the street from the new stadium, with a reservation.

The flame’s unveiling comes just days after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his plans to resign. Abe was on hand in 2013 in Buenos Aires when the IOC picked Tokyo, and he was the highlight of the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when he appeared as the Nintendo game character Super Mario.

The fate of the Tokyo Olympics remains uncertain. Organizers say it will open July 23, 2021 but they have not revealed any details about how 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be kept safe in Tokyo.