26 February 2019
Tokyo Metropolitan Government

500 Days Until the Opening of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020!
Announcing the Start of the “500 Days to Go! Tokyo 2020 Caravan” and Special Events to Celebrate the Countdown

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) in cooperation with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee (Tokyo 2020) and other related organisations, will host a number of special events to mark the 500 days to go until the opening of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday 12 March, and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Saturday 13 April, to build momentum for the upcoming Games.

Please find details for the upcoming March events below

1. 500 Days to Go! Tokyo 2020 Caravan “Give a Big Cheer Together”

A special “500 days” caravan bus with a special 500 days countdown design will host events for children and conduct regional visits as it tours both Tokyo and the three prefectures hardest-hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster (Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima).

1-1. Unveiling and Departure of the Tokyo 2020 Caravan Bus

• Date / Time
  Tuesday 12 March 2019, 11:30 – 12:00
• Location
  Panasonic Center Tokyo (3-5-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
• Organisers
  TMG, Tokyo 2020
• Content
  Following the unveiling of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sport Pictograms, there will be a unveiling and departure ceremony to commemorate the start of the “500 Days Bus” trip.

1-2. First Bus Stop: Children’s events at Tokyo Machida-no-oka Special Support School

• Date / Time
  Tuesday 12 March 2019, 14:00 – 14:50
• Location
  Tokyo Machida-no-oka Special Support School (2003 Nozutamachi, Machida-shi, Tokyo)
• Organisers
  TMG, Tokyo 2020
• Content
  The Tokyo 2020 mascots and guest athletes will join the children to welcome the first visit of the “500 Days Bus”.

2. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sport Pictograms Media Liner

• Date
  Approx. 1 month, starting from Tuesday 12 March 2019
• Organiser
  TMG
• Content
  On the Toei Oedo subway line, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sport Pictograms Media Liner (train chartered for advertising) will be running (one train).

3. Presenting the Appeal of the Tokyo 2020 Games and city of Tokyo with Projection Mapping

To build momentum in the Ariake area, where many urban sports competition venues for the Games are located, there will be a limited-time projection mapping event showcasing the appeal of the Tokyo 2020 Games and Tokyo.

• Date / Time
  Thursday 21 March 2019 – Sunday 24 March 2019, 18:00 – 20:30
  (The first day will feature an opening event, to begin at 17:40.)
• Location
  Tokyo Big Sight (3-11-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
  Panasonic Center Tokyo (3-5-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
  (There will be projections at both locations.)
• Organisers
  TMG, Tokyo Big Sight Inc., Panasonic Corporation

4. “Tokyo 2020 500 Days to Go!”, Final Event of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Flag and Paralympic Flag Tour

A huge event will be held to celebrate both the 500 days countdown and the return of the Olympic and Paralympic flags, which have toured Tokyo’s 62 municipalities and Japan’s 47 prefectures.

• Date / Time
  Saturday 30 March 2019, 15:00 – 17:45
• Location
  Marunouchi Central Square at Tokyo Station (1-9 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
• Organisers
  TMG, Tokyo 2020, Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), Japanese Para-Sports Association/ Japanese Paralympic Committee (JPC)
• Content
  • 1st Section
    The flag return ceremony, flag tour special movie presentation, special ambassador (TOKIO) and athletes talk session, and taekwondo demonstration, etc.
  • 2nd Section
    Special ambassador and athletes sports face-off

*Following the end of the second section, visitors will be able to take part in a sports experience.

About Tokyo 2020 Olympic Flag and Paralympic Flag Tour

The Olympic and Paralympic flags have toured around Japan for nearly three years, beginning from October 2016. After visiting all 62 of Tokyo’s municipalities and the disaster-stricken regions of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Kumamoto prefectures, the flags embarked on a tour of the country along a northern and a southern route. The aim of flag tour is to build momentum across Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
In March, the northern tour will finish in Yamanashi Prefecture, and the southern route will finish in Kochi Prefecture.

 

Inquiries (Assistance in Japanese only)

Project Section, Planning and Promotion Division Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation Phone: 03-5320-7818 https://www.2020games.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/eng/ (External link) https://twitter.com/sports_tokyo (External link) https://www.facebook.com/tocho2020games/ (External link)