On July 25th 2013, in spite of the heavy rain advisory issued in coastal areas from Aomori to Miyagi Prefecture, “1000km relay ~looking to the future of the Tohoku Region~” started as scheduled, for the rain had been eased few minutes before the opening ceremony began.

There were more than 200 people including runners, their families, and reporters in front of the Hachinohe City Hall, the venue of the opening ceremony. People from different age groups (from 6 years old to 82 years old) were joining this relay programme as a runner.

The opening ceremony started with kagura, a performance of sacred Shinto music and dancing, which is a traditional ritual of Ogami shrine. This performance can also be seen at Hachinohe Biggest Three Shrine Festival.

This“1000km relay ~looking to the future of the Tohoku Region~” programme aims to support the revival of the Tohoku Region after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Participants start from Aomori Prefecture and are going to run through six disaster-stricken prefectures, passing on their sashes to Tokyo, The relay starts on July 25th and will end on August 7th. We appreciate if this event would be a helpful activity to unite the whole Japan for rebuilding the Tohoku Region.

Many special guests attended the opening ceremony.
As a representative of all sponsors of this project, Mr. Hidenori Nakano, the chairman of Tokyo Sports Association made a following speech.
“Two years and four months have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
People in the disaster-stricken areas have been trying to rebuild their towns and cities, but they are still under reconstruction. We launched this programme to remind people all over the world that they must not allow their memories of the big earthquake to fade away. A period of preparation was short, but there more than 2,200 entries. We would like the 700 people selected from all entrants to pass on their sashes to Tokyo with a hope for the revival of the Tohoku Region. Also, we wish this course would be a route of the Olympic torch relay as a symbol of revival, if Japan should be chosen as a host country of 2020’s Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.

There also as a speech from Ms. Maki Kobayashi, the Mayor of Hachinohe City.
“As a representative of Hachinohe City, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations on this opening ceremony successfully held in the presence of many participants and supporters. Also, I would like to express my appreciation for choosing our city, Hachinohe as a start point. When the tragedy occurred, Hachinohe City has also been severely damaged, but we have kept on rebuilding our city in the hope of a better tomorrow. However, there were many areas along Sanriku Region, where people still cannot bounce back and start rebuilding. Therefore, I respect those who launched this programme aiming to encourage such despaired people to have a dream, hope and energy once again.”

After the guest runner’s speech and the player’s oath, the grand opening ceremony finished without any trouble.

【Special guests】
　Ms. Maki Kobayashi (The Mayor of Hachinohe City)
　Mr. Koichiro Yoneda (The Vice Mayor of Misawa City)
　Mr. Yoshinobu Nishidate (The Vice Mayor of Oirase Town)
　Ms. Kazuko Kubo (The Vice Mayor of Hashikami Town)
【Guest runners】
　Ms. Hitomi Ohara (wrestler)
　Mr. Satoru Shimizu (prizefighter)
　Ms. Makiko Sakamoto (wrestler)
　Mr. ELLY (J Soul Brothers the third)