Daily Times

FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE: Japanese actor Mansai Nomura will orchestrate the opening and closing ceremonies for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was announced on Monday. Following a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting in Fukushima Prefecture, Nomura was named as the chief executive creative director overseeing all four ceremonies. Nomura is best known in Japan for his performances as an actor featuring in kyogen, a traditional form of comedic theatre. The 52-year-old won the prize for the best actor at the prestigious Blue Ribbon Awards in 2001. “He is the person who is to carry out the image and the message of Tokyo 2020,” said Tokyo 2020 Honorary President Fujio Mitarai. “That person has the role of implementing our spirit and vision of the Tokyo 2020 Games at all four ceremonies. “Mansai Nomura is a renowned figure, both domestically and internationally and he is knowledgeable in both traditional Japanese art and modern theatrical art.” The board meeting was held at the recently re-opened J-Village complex in Fukushima Prefecture. The facility, which previously played host to the Argentine soccer team during the 2002 World Cup, was used as a base for rescue teams working in the wake of the 2011 earthquake. The earthquake killed approximately 18,000 people and also severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant rendering much of the area near the J-Village a no-go zone. The re-opening of the J-Village last week is a symbol of the reconstruction that Tokyo 2020 hopes to encourage in the region.

Published in Daily Times, July 31^st 2018.