Feature image by Stephen Jarvis
As Japan gears up for the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 23, 2021, the world turns its attention to the Olympic torch relay currently traveling across the country. For the little coastal town of Kamaishi, the arrival of the symbolic flame and the international spotlight it brings will be much more than an important moment in its history. It will be another sign of how sports and the values of heart, resilience and union strengthens the town’s future and lifts the spirits of a community that was left in ruins after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. What follows is the remarkable story of that community and how the 2019 Rugby World Cup, along with the 2020 Olympics, can bring hope to the resilient locals who survived one of the largest natural disasters ever recorded in Japan.