Tokyo Paralympic flames ignited in Okinawa with prayer for peace

Tokyo Paralympic flames ignited in Okinawa with prayer for peace

Hiroyuki Kinjyo lighting a torch from the Fire of Peace monument at the Peace Memorial Park in Mabuni, Itoman City, on the morning of August 12.


August 13, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

On August 12, torch bearers located in six towns and cities of Okinawa prayed for peace as they ignited torches for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, which will open on August 24. The six locations included the Fire of Peace monument at the Peace Memorial Park in Mabuni, Itoman City, and a memorial commemorating the passing of the Olympic Torch in 1964 in Kayo, Nago City. There are 14 torches ablaze in Okinawa, which will be joined into one single flame onAugust 14. The City of Naha will host a ceremony for the event, and the Paralympic flame will be sent off to Tokyo, the host city.

 

Torches were also lit in Naha City, Urasoe City, Yonabaru, and Kumejima on August 12, with a limited number of ceremony attendees to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While some cities canceled the celebration due to bad weather, Uruma City and Kadena withdrew from lighting torches altogether.

 

The flames from each region will not be physically joined during the flame unification and send-off ceremony on August 14, but images of the torches will be displayed to show the unity of the spirit. A Flame Gathering Ceremony will be held in Tokyo on August 20, where the Paralympic flames from all over Japan and Stoke Mandeville, England, the birthplace of the Paralympics, will be united to create a single flame.

 

(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)

 

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