11 disaster-hit municipalities registered as athlete host towns

November 17, 2017

Tokyo- The Japanese government announced Friday 11 municipalities in northeastern Japan that will serve as Reconstruction "Arigato" Host Towns for athletes competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The municipalities in the three Tohoku northeastern prefectures that were hit hardest by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami--Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi--hope to call the world's attention to the progress of their reconstruction through exchanges with the athletes.

This is part of a broader host town project of the government aimed at promoting exchanges with countries and regions participating in the quadrennial sporting events.

The government will designate more municipalities as Reconstruction "Arigato" Host Towns as they apply to join the initiative. Arigato means "thank you."

Among the 11 registered municipalities, the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture will become the host town for athletes from the United States and Australia, both of which gave relief donations to the city.

The village of Iitate in Fukushima Prefecture will be accepting athletes from Laos. Having helped build an elementary school in Laos in a project that started before the disaster, Iitate has held exchanges between children of the village and the Southeast Asian country.

The city of Sendai, already registered as the host town for Italian athletes, also became a reconstruction host town. It plans to maintain ties with Italy after the Olympics, promoting an exchange program for students who suffered damage from tsunami and inviting Italian government officials to an event for disaster prevention, for example. Jiji Press