The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) on Saturday welcomed Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on his visit to the Tokyo 2020 Recovery Monuments.
The monuments were conceived as a project connecting the world and the areas hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and devastating tsunami, offering support for the recovery from the disaster. Tokyo 2020 worked on the project in collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai), the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Partner LIXIL Corporation.
The Tokyo 2020 Recovery Monuments symbolise the gratitude of the Japanese people and in particular those from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima--the prefectures hit worst by the earthquake and tsunami--for the support, they received from people from around the world, as per Olympics.com. The monuments also represent the support of the Japanese people for the world's athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The three monuments, each over two metres high, were constructed using aluminium recycled from window frames for use in temporary housing in the affected areas following the disaster. In workshops held in the summer of 2019 in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, middle and senior high school students and students from Geidai jointly created the designs and messages to be placed on the monuments.
The completed monuments are now installed in front of the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery near Tokyo's Olympic Stadium (National Stadium). The many athletes participating in the Games are able to see the messages of gratitude from the affected areas to the world. The athletes are able to send their own messages to the local residents and attach them to the monuments after the Games.
Joining IPC President Parsons' visit to the Tokyo 2020 Recovery Monuments were Tokyo 2020 Vice President Yasushi Yamawaki, as well as the monument designer Shione Fukui. Geidai Faculty of Fine Arts Professor Kiyoshi Akanuma, who supervised the creation of the monuments, Kinya Seto, Director, President and CEO, LIXIL was also in attendance.
( With inputs from ANI )
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