This past August we reported how the enormous Olympic rings monument located in Tokyo Bay had been temporarily removed as a result of the Summer Olympic Games’ postponement to 2021. But, nearly 4 months later, the iconic structure is back.
The five Olympics ring display had been installed in January of this year, celebrating the dawning of 2020, the original timeline for the next Summer Olympic Games. Upon its original installment, the rings monument served as the centerpiece of a celebration commemorating turning the page into a then-Olympic year.
In August, the 69-ton floating monument, which measures 33 meters wide by 15 meters high, was towed by a barge to a factory in Yokohama, near Tokyo, to undergo safety inspection and maintenance.
However, the rings have just been reinstalled and mark the fact that the postponed Games are indeed drawing nearer, ready to start less than 250 days from now.
Tokyo metropolitan government planning director Atsushi Yanashimizu told Reuters, “Since the symbol is here, we want Tokyo residents and also internationally to feel that the Games are coming very soon.”
“Also, we want everyone to feel we will have the Tokyo 2020 Games definitely next year.”
The monument will remain in place next to Rainbow Bridge until the Olympics finish in August before being replaced with the Paralympics logo.