Here is a photo collection of scenes from the Tokyo Olympic torch relay that covered seven prefectures in southwestern to western Japan between May 1 and 16.

The nationwide relay started on March 25 in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima and is scheduled to cover all of Japan's 47 prefectures during its 121-day journey till the games' opening ceremony on July 23.

A growing number of prefectures, however, have taken some relay legs off public roads, with Fukuoka Prefecture holding only an ignition ceremony on each of the two days there instead of relays, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A Tokyo Olympic torch relay participant runs in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 1, 2021, on the far side of white cloth put up to keep off public eyes and prevent crowding. (Kyodo)

The Tokyo Olympic flame is passed from torch to torch by relay participants on traditional rowboats on May 2, 2021, off Zamami in Japan's southernmost island prefecture of Okinawa. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A Tokyo Olympic torch is carried near stones engraved with the names of victims of the Battle of Okinawa at a peace park built on a wartime battlefield in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 2, 2021. (Kyodo)

A Tokyo Olympic torch relay runner arrives at Aoiaso shrine in Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 5, 2021, with a handrail of a bridge there remaining partially ripped due to the torrential rain of July 2020. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A Tokyo Olympic torch relay participant carries the Olympic flame on a fishing boat with big catch flags off Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 5 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
A Tokyo Olympic torch relay runner poses with Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, in the southwestern Japan city of Uto, on May 5, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a total of 10 current and former Tokai University students passing over a recently reconstructed bridge for the Tokyo Olympic torch relay in the Kumamoto Prefecture village of Minamiaso, southwestern Japan, on May 6, 2021. The bridge collapsed in the April 2016 massive earthquakes that hit the region, leaving over 250 people dead, including three Tokai University students. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A Tokyo Olympic torch relay runner arrives at a municipally operated hot spring house in the Kumamoto Prefecture city of Yamaga, southwestern Japan, on May 6, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A runner arrives at Kashiragashima Church, the finishing point of the Tokyo Olympic torch relay's leg in the Nagasaki Prefecture town of Shinkamigoto, southwestern Japan, on May 7, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

An orchestra composed of local junior high school students, wearing face shields amid the coronavirus pandemic, gives a performance on the coast of the Ariake Sea in Tara, the starting point of the Tokyo Olympic torch relay's leg in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 9, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A Tokyo Olympic torch relay participant runs at Yoshinogari Historical Park in the Saga Prefecture town of Yoshinogari, southwestern Japan, on May 10, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

An ignition ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic torch relay is held at Heiwadai Athletic Stadium in Fukuoka on May 11, 2021. The torch relay was taken off public roads in the southwestern Japan prefecture due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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People protest around Heiwadai Athletic Stadium in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, on May 11, 2021, against holding the Tokyo Olympics amid the coronavirus pandemic, as an ignition ceremony for the torch relay of the Games is held inside the stadium. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A Tokyo Olympic torch relay participant runs in the Yamaguchi Prefecture city of Ube, western Japan, on May 14, 2021, with spectators looking on from the top of a Coca-Cola truck. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A torchbearer runs on a mountain road in the Shimane Prefecture village of Chibu, western Japan, on May 15, 2021, for the Tokyo Olympic torch relay. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The Olympic flame is passed from torch to torch during the Tokyo Olympic torch relay on a street leading to Izumo Taisha shrine in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, on May 16, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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IN PHOTOS: Tokyo Olympics torch relay - April 11~28

IN PHOTOS: Tokyo Olympics torch relay - April 1~10

IN PHOTOS: Tokyo Olympics torch relay in its first week - March 25~31