On July 23rd The Tokyo Olympics will officially begin and to be honest, everyone in Japan is very worried about this. Japanese people fully support the athletes and all the training that they have done for many years to achieve their dreams. However, because of the times we live in, there is a feeling that the International Olympic Committee, the government, and local organizers have ignored widespread opposition to the games from the Japanese public. Depending on how the question is phrased in different polls, roughly 80% of Japanese people oppose holding the Olympics. Japanese rarely have public protests or demonstrations. For the last year these peaceful demonstrations have been taking place.

We have only received the vaccine in recent months, which has become available to everyone only in the last 2 weeks. With 100.000 people working for the Olympics, press, and athletes arriving, it is a bit worry some. Many of the initial staff have quit their jobs for the safety of themselves and their families.

There is talk of a new, “Olympic strain” that might come out of this. Some participants have already tested positive for Corona despite have already being vaccinated. Please pray for Japan as we are all very worried about this, after all the efforts that have been made to minimize the cases of covid since the start, we remain one of the countries with the lowest cases. We pray it remains that way. Olympic rules will now ban singing and chanting during events, with masks required at almost all times. We hope for the safety of everyone involved in the games.

We will however try to be cheerful and do our best to stay safe and try to trust that everyone involved will be following the rules stay in place and watch the athletes from the safety of our homes, without being in groups, which will be banned, as well as drinking in bars or restaurants, through August.

The sales of immune booster drinks and fruits and vegetables and food have been very high this month! Recommended foods and drinks include:

Matcha:

Yuzu:

Miso Soup:

Seaweed:

Natto (fermented soybeans):

Umeboshi (pickled plums):

Zakkoku Rice Mix: You can buy a mix that is very popular now containing many types of seeds, grains, millets, beans, or you can make it yourself. You add the mix to your rice to make it more nutritious! It is very subtle and does not really change the taste of the rice.

Everyone involved started arriving over 2 weeks ago. They are taken directly to The Olympic and Paralympic Village that was constructed in the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo. The residential units used by athletes during the Tokyo 2020 Games, will be renovated for use as general residential apartments after the Games.

The athletes will be driven directly there tested for corona virus and back during the games and other people will not be attending.

If you want to watch the Olympic Torch Relay it can be viewed here:

https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/torch/

To see the torch please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UkFbauCdww&t=14s

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay emblem has been designed to be consistent with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic brand and easily recognizable as part of the brand family.

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The three rectangular shapes that make up the Tokyo 2020 Games emblems have been redesigned to resemble the flame of a torch, and to express the dynamic movement of a flame. The design also incorporates the fuki bokashi technique for colour gradation often used in traditional Japanese ukiyoe painting, to further imbue the emblem with a Japanese aesthetic.

Traditional Japanese colours have been used to emphasise the flame of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch. Vermilion is used to depict energy, passion, affection and dynamism, while the use of yellow ochre suggests vast expanses of earth or land, which together create the sense of a Japanese-style festival.

The torch runners transporting the Olympic flame over vast expanses of Japan will create a ‘Path of Hope’, symbolising a continuum to the future.

This was designed by artist and designer Tokujin Yoshioka, born in 1967.

Active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, he is highly acclaimed globally with works themed in the nature, which also reflect the Japanese idea of beauty. By giving figure to various human senses, using immaterialistic elements such as light, creates expressions that are unique and surpassing the concept of shape. He has won many international awards.

Masterpieces: the glass bench exhibited at Musée d'Orsay called “Water Block,” the crystal prism architecture “Rainbow Church,” the natural crystal chair “VENUS,” and the glass teahouse “KOU-AN” are some of the many masterpieces announced.

About the design of the Olympic Torch:

“In 2015, I visited Fukushima prefecture and did a drawing workshop with children from the disaster affected area as an assistance for reconstruction. The cherry blossoms they drew were all vibrant, as if they’re symbolising the spirit of the people taking steps toward reconstruction, and projecting hopes for the future. That experience inspired me to design this torch.”

Part of the material from which the torch is made is recycled aluminium originally used in the construction of prefabricated housing units in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake which killed over 1.600 people and led to a major environmental nuclear disaster. “The temporary units used to house those affected by the calamity have been transformed into the Olympic torch, and communicate the steps taken toward reconstruction of the disaster affected areas”.

“What I designed is not merely the shape of the torch body, but most importantly, the form of the flame. Five separate flames emerge from flower petals and come together as one at the center of the torch, and it becomes a flame of Sakura as a symbol of peace. As if sakura trees bloom across Japan, the sacred flame traverse across Japan, and I hope this narrative will engage people more and lights our way.”

Comments Tokujin Yoshioka.
Some famous works by Tokujin Yoshioka:

To see or purchase an Original poster from the 1964 Olympics please visit Bows and Arrows or email us your request.