TOKYO — A giant floating monument of the Olympic rings was reinstalled in Tokyo Bay on Tuesday after undergoing safety inspections and maintenance since the summer.
The monument, standing 15 metres high, 33 metres long and weighing about 69 tons was temporarily removed in August from the capital’s Daiba waterfront area following the games’ postponement for a year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Repainted for a fresh look, the Olympic rings will be displayed until the end of the games next August and lit up in the evening every day, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.
The monument was first set up in January but sent back to the factory in Yokohama, near Tokyo, where it was made for a series of examinations and some maintenance work.
Around 9 am, a barge carrying the monument was towed into Odaiba Marine Park against the backdrop of the capital’s landmark Rainbow Bridge and skyscrapers in the bay area.
Takayuki Kojima, a 70-yearold Tokyo resident who stopped to watch the operation, said “I hope (the reinstalled monument) will lift up people’s spirits in the run-up to the Olympics.”
The metropolitan government originally planned to set up Olympic-themed monuments in other locations including the peak of Mt. Takao in western Tokyo and at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya Ward. But the plan has been postponed due to the pandemic.—Kyodo
