By KUNA,
Tokyo : The Beijing Olympic torch relay in Japan ended Saturday under heavy security with more than 3,000 police officers deployed.
Although three men were arrested and four Chinese men were injured in separate incidents along the route in Nagano City, central Japan, the torch was passed from one runner to another without major disruptions.
According to the police, a man of Asian appearance carrying a Tibetan flag was arrested after allegedly trying to break into the relay route. A Japanese man who tried to seize the torch was also caught, while the third man was arrested after throwing an egg at a runner.
The manager of the Japanese Olympic baseball team Senichi Hoshino was the first of 80 runner of the 18.7-kilometer relay in Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
The relay started from the center of the city about 8:30 a.m. (2330 Friday GMT) and finished at a park, where more than 1,000 protestors and supporters were gathered.
Five riot police force members and two Chinese officials known as flame attendants accompanied the torchbearers, and there was a line of 45 police officers on each side.
Along the street, groups of Chinese students and people critical of the Chinese government
sometimes confronted each other, holding banners and chanting slogans.
The start of the relay was moved away from the 1,400-year-old Buddhist temple last week after monks expressed concerns over China’s crackdown in Tibet.
The Olympic flame will be transported to South Korea, the next leg of the torch relay.