Japan lights the Olympic flame and the hope that Tokyo 2020 will go ahead

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

Judoka Tadahiro Nomura (left) and wrestler Saori Yoshida (right), both Japanese former Olympic athletes, hold the Olympic flame © Getty Images

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori (left), judoka Tadahiro Nomura (centre) and wrestler Saori Yoshida (right) hold the Olympic flame © Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

Official relay ambassadors Saori Yoshida and Judoka Tadahiro Nomura light the Olympic flame © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

The ceremony marking the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan was held in Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture on 20 March © Mara Budgen

Japan lights the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame

Official Olympic flame relay ambassadors, from left to right: Saori Yoshida, Tadahiro Nomura, actress Satomi Ishihara and ex-Paralympic athlete Aki Taguchi © Mara Budgen