By Xinhua,
Nagano, Japan : The 16th leg torch relay of the Beijing Olympic flame concluded Saturday noon in Nagano city of central Japan.
Famous Japanese athlete and the last runner in the relay Mizuki Noguchi, Athens Olympic women’s marathon gold medalist, kindled the cauldron with the torch, marking the end of the flame’s passing in Japan.
Hundreds of Chinese students and scholars in Japan convened at Wakasato Park, the relay’s terminus at south of the Nagano central railway station to celebrate the smooth and successful finish of the relay.
Tsunekazu Takeda, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Chiharu Igaya, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, Li Binghua, vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games, Nagano Mayor Shoichi Washizawa and Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai attended the ceremony held in the park.
“We are happy to see that the Olympic torch brought the spirits of peace and friendship to Nagano,” Washizawa said in his address.
A series of performances by Japanese children were staged in the park shortly after the ceremony. An orchestra waved off groups of Chinese spectators with its music.
Zhang Bi, a torchbearer representing Chinese students in Japan, told Xinhua he communicated with locals when waiting for his role, and was deeply impressed with their interest in the relay.
“I felt much stronger with the support of friendly Japanese spectators and hundreds of Chinese youth all along the way,” Zhang said.
The flame is to get on its way to Seoul, its 17th stop, later Saturday.