Giant Olympic puppet arrives in Tokyo

Tokyo, July 17

With just six days to go until the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the organising committee held a cultural event “Rediscover Tohoku – MOCCO’s Journey from Tohoku to Tokyo” at a park in Tokyo.

The massive animated installation is the centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Nippon Festival, which is an official cultural program of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and is being held under the theme of “The Reconstruction of Tohoku”.

MOCCO made the first appearance on 15th May in Iwate prefecture and then toured across three prefectures in the Tohoku region before arriving in Tokyo, the final destination of the journey.

MOCCO is the brainchild of children from the earthquake and tsunami devastated Tohoku region, the area most affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Its name was given by screenwriter Kankuro Kudo, who was inspired by “MOCCO’s Story,” a tale written by Japanese comedian and writer Naoki Matayoshi. AP