By YUSUKE SAITO/ Staff Writer
November 13, 2019 at 15:50 JST
The victory bouquets are combined with mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. (Yusuke Saito)
The victory bouquets for next year's Tokyo Olympics will include a colorful array of flowers from the disaster-stricken Tohoku region as a symbol of recovery.
The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on Nov. 12 announced the designs for the award, which is presented to all medalists.
Sunflowers, eustoma and gentian flowers from Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate prefectures, respectively, will be used for the bouquets, giving them a bright appearance in yellow, green, purple.
Roses from Miyagi Prefecture will decorate similar bouquets presented to the Paralympic medalists.
The three prefectures were among those hit hardest in the 2011 disaster triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Organizers said a total of 5,000 bouquets, 17 centimeters wide and 28 to 30 cm high, will be prepared.
"I hope that the flowers help express our appreciation to people around the world who have shown great consideration following the disaster and also become a source of encouragement for victims of the calamity," said Nobuo Isomura, chairman of a national association of flower growers.
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