Tama Zenshoen, a national sanitarium for leprosy patients, in Higashimurayama, western Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A city in western Tokyo is giving pandemic-frustrated children a chance to release pent-up enthusiasm and stifled excitement by attending an Olympic torch relay ceremony held at a sanitarium for leprosy patients.
Schoolchildren in Higashimurayama city have seen many of their school activities canceled as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus in the capital.
But city officials have asked children at elementary and junior high schools to join the ceremony to welcome the Olympic torch’s arrival on the evening of July 13.