Tokyo unveils 'cherry blossom' Olympic torch

TOKYO, Mar 20 (AFP): Organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday unveiled a cherry-blossom shaped torch for the Games as the city prepares for the famed flower season to begin in coming days.

The top part of the torch is shaped in the traditional emblem of the sakura, or cherry blossom using the same cutting-edge technology as in production of Japan's bullet trains, the organisers said.

The shiny rose-gold torch, which is 71 centimetres (28 inches) long and weighs 1.2 kilograms (2 pounds 10 ounces), uses aluminium construction waste from temporary housing built for victims of the 2011 quake and tsunami.

"Cherry blossoms drawn by kids in the disaster-hit area ... inspired me," designer Tokujin Yoshioka, whose works are known internationally, told reporters.