Thousands of Chinese students waving red flags and signs such as "One World, One Dream, One China" gathered in Nagano outside the setting-off site.
Supporters holding Chinese flags, mixed with some Japanese and Olympic emblems, lined the relay route. Eighty torch bearers took part in the 18.7 km (12 mile) relay through the city, including passing the Olympic stadium M-Wave.
The relay was started by Senichi Hoshino, the manager of Japan's national baseball team.
Senichi Hoshino is a former Japanese professional baseball player and manager.
In 2003, he led the Tigers to their first Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. On January25, 2007, it was announced that he would manage the Japanese national team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 61-year-old Hoshino is popular in Japan. As a baseball player, he helped his team win two league championships. He coached two teams to three trophies in national league championship.
Kosuke Kitajima, gold medalist in the Athens Games, was in the 72th place bearing the torch.
Kitajima first made history by being the first swimmer to set anew world record at the Asian Games when he did so in the 200m breast stroke in 2002 at Busan.
He won gold medals for the men's 100m and 200m breaststroke in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Mizuki Noguchi, a long-distance athlete, was credited to run the last leg and lit the cauldron in the celebration ceremony.
Noguchi was born in Kanagawa, but grew up in Ise in Ise city in Mie. She started competing in track and field during her first year of middle school. While attending Ujiyamada Commercial High School, she entered the national high school track meet and competed in the 3000m and the long-distance relay.
After winning the Inuyama half-marathon in 1999, she was inspired to concentrate her efforts on that event. She was ranked second in the world that year, and in 2001 she won in the all-Japan corporate league.
With a string of victories, she became known as "Queen of the Half Marathon". Continuing through the Miyazaki Women's Road Race competition in January 2004, she competed in 24 half marathons, and won 14 of them. Only twice was she beaten by another Japanese athlete.
In March 2002 she entered her first full marathon, the Nagoya International Women's Marathon, and won. In January 2003 she won the Osaka International Women's Marathon with a time of 2 hours 21minutes 18 seconds, the second-fastest on record for Japan.
Supporters holding Chinese flags, mixed with some Japanese and Olympic emblems, lined the relay route. Eighty torch bearers took part in the 18.7 km (12 mile) relay through the city, including passing the Olympic stadium M-Wave.
The relay was started by Senichi Hoshino, the manager of Japan's national baseball team.
Senichi Hoshino is a former Japanese professional baseball player and manager.
In 2003, he led the Tigers to their first Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. On January25, 2007, it was announced that he would manage the Japanese national team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 61-year-old Hoshino is popular in Japan. As a baseball player, he helped his team win two league championships. He coached two teams to three trophies in national league championship.
Kosuke Kitajima, gold medalist in the Athens Games, was in the 72th place bearing the torch.
Kitajima first made history by being the first swimmer to set anew world record at the Asian Games when he did so in the 200m breast stroke in 2002 at Busan.
He won gold medals for the men's 100m and 200m breaststroke in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Mizuki Noguchi, a long-distance athlete, was credited to run the last leg and lit the cauldron in the celebration ceremony.
Noguchi was born in Kanagawa, but grew up in Ise in Ise city in Mie. She started competing in track and field during her first year of middle school. While attending Ujiyamada Commercial High School, she entered the national high school track meet and competed in the 3000m and the long-distance relay.
After winning the Inuyama half-marathon in 1999, she was inspired to concentrate her efforts on that event. She was ranked second in the world that year, and in 2001 she won in the all-Japan corporate league.
With a string of victories, she became known as "Queen of the Half Marathon". Continuing through the Miyazaki Women's Road Race competition in January 2004, she competed in 24 half marathons, and won 14 of them. Only twice was she beaten by another Japanese athlete.
In March 2002 she entered her first full marathon, the Nagoya International Women's Marathon, and won. In January 2003 she won the Osaka International Women's Marathon with a time of 2 hours 21minutes 18 seconds, the second-fastest on record for Japan.
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