Tokyo Olympics torch relay, delayed a year by COVID and still shrouded in coronavirus doubt, kicks off in Japan

Tokyo — The Tokyo Olympics torch relay kicked off on Thursday after a one-year delay. The relay was to take place under extreme antiviral restrictions, but officials are hoping it can boost sagging enthusiasm for the beleaguered Summer Games in the four months left before Opening Day.

Shortly before the ceremony began, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, the first such provocation in a year. While the missiles landed outside Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the aggression violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and "threatened the peace and security of Japan and the surrounding region." The torch relay got underway with a brief morning ceremony featuring schoolchildren in Japan's Fukushima region. They sang "Hana wa Saku," (Flowers Will Bloom), an anthem composed after the devastating triple disasters of 2011, when a massive earthquake sparked a tsunami and then a nuclear crisis.