Robot helps carry the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay kicked off in Fukushima on March 25. It will travel through all of the country's 47 prefectures over the next 121 days before arriving in Tokyo for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 23.

"A robot helping to carry the torch. When GOTO Akihito came to Toyota in 2007, his goal was to solve the problems people with physical impairments faced. The solution? Robotics, which today helped him carry the @OlympicFlame," the #Tokyo2020 tweeted the video.

Torchbearers are running an average of 200m before passing the torch onto the next runner using a torch kiss pose.

Tokyo Olympics will go ahead from July 23-August 8 this year. The Games were slated to be held last year, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the postponement of the megaevent, the Olympic Flame was first transferred to the facilities of the Tokyo Fire Department for safekeeping, then, later on, kept alight at the Olympic Museum in Tokyo.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), in a statement on March 24, had said that the route, which is unchanged from a year ago when the Games were postponed, will see the Olympic flame travel through 859 municipalities, passing within a short distance of the majority of the Japanese population.

Also, the IOC Executive Board (EB) has decided to grant accreditation only to people who have essential and operational roles at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

This will significantly reduce the number of accredited people at the Games. It will be implemented by reducing the number of programmes, including the IOC Guest Programme.