The 2020 Olympics will take place in Tokyo, Japan and they’ve already released the official design for the Olympics Torch. The torch will be a stunning rose gold beacon that resembles Japan’s famous national flower which the cherry blossom or more commonly known as Sakura. Japan is quite known for its cherry blossoms as thousands of tourists visit its peak season as it blooms from January to early April. The Sakura is more commonly known as a flowering cherry tree.
Tokujin Yoshioka, the official designer of the torch, has created the sakura with a sheet of aluminum metal which is reportedly made from the same leading-edge technology as Japan’s well-known shinkansen bullet trains. The color is most commonly known as rose gold but the Olympic torch’s color has been dubbed as “Sakura gold” and the Paralympics torch’s “Sakura pink.”
Japantimes also reported that the theme of the Yoshioka’s Olympics Torch design which integrates the Sakura is to spark the symbol of hope which relates to Tohoku region’s reconstruction from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated three prefectures on March 11, 2011,
The torch is 1.2kg and is 71cm long and is reportedly made from recycled aluminum that originally came from temporary housing units. “Cherry blossoms drawn by kids in the disaster-hit area inspired me,” Yoshioka shares.
Furthermore, it is reported that the upper part of the torch will consist of a central column that has five petals attached to it in order to form a symbolic blossom of the Sakura. Thirty percent of the aluminum used in forming this design has come from recycled materials from temporary housing used in disaster-hit Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures.
10,000 torches will be produced for the Olympic Games and according to the event committee, “The flame will burn brightly and forcefully through the wide variety of seasons, climatic conditions and geographical regions that make up the Japanese archipelago.”
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay will be on March 26, 2020, where it will be in Fukushima to be carried on by around 80 to 90 runners in a course of 121 days across the landscape of Japan.
Here’s the official video for the unveiling of the Official Tokyo 2020 Games Olympic Torch:
What do you think about the design of the torch for the 2020 games?
