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Giant Tokyo Paralympic Emblem Appears at Tokyo Metropolitan Plaza (Video Available)
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government held the countdown event "Everyone's Tokyo 2020: 4 Years to Go!!" on August 25th, four years before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The event took place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building's Citizens' Plaza and the Tokyo Metropolitan Fuchu Keyaki no Mori Gakuen.
The opening ceremony at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building's Citizens' Plaza was attended by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Japan Paralympic Committee President Yasushi Yamawaki, and guests including Paralympic athlete Manami Tani (track and field), Rio Paralympic canoeing team member Monica Setachi, former Japanese national swimming team member Kyoko Iwasaki, and Tokyo Games emblem designer Asao Tokolo.
Governor Koike stated, "At the Rio Olympics, I gained tremendous strength from the dynamic athletes. It reinforced my conviction that the Tokyo Games must be athlete-first." She reported having received the Olympic flag in Rio and brought it back to Tokyo.
Regarding the event, she explained it aims to introduce as many people as possible to the appeal of the Paralympics and foster interest, working towards the goal of filling the venues for the 2020 Paralympic Games. "The success of the 2020 Games will be measured by the excitement generated for the Paralympics. We will spare no effort in advancing both hardware and software initiatives to welcome Paralympic athletes from around the world," she stated in her address.
After the ceremony, the "Tokyo 2020 Emblem Created by Everyone" event took place in the plaza, with approximately 100 elementary school children participating. This event involved disassembling a giant Olympic emblem and then reassembling it to create the Paralympic emblem.
Originally, both emblems were composed of 45 square pieces combined. Under the message of "Diversity and Harmony," the design expresses the idea that "Despite differences, we connect and transcend them."
The children worked together to move the pieces and successfully completed the Paralympic emblem. They then responded loudly with "Go!!" to the chant "Everyone's Tokyo 2020 4 Years to".
On the same day, Fuchu Keyaki no Mori Gakuen also held a sitting volleyball experience and a "Let's Deliver Everyone's Cheers!" event where participants created messages of support for the Japanese Paralympic team competing in Rio.
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