Host city	Nagano, Japan
Countries visited	Greece, Japan
Distance	1,612 kilometres (1,002 mi)
Torch bearers	6,916
Start date	December 19, 1997
End date	February 7, 1998
Torch designer	Akio Haruhara
No. of torches	69,010

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1998 Winter Olympics
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The 1998 Winter Olympics torch relay was run from December 19, 1997 until February 7, 1998 prior to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. The route covered around 1,612 kilometres (1,002 mi) and involved over 6,916 torchbearers. Midori Ito lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony.^[1]

In December 1997, Midori Ito, silver medalist in figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics and Eishiro Saito, Chairman of the Nagano Olympic Organizing Committee, brought the Olympic Torch to Ryutaro Hashimoto, at the time the Prime Minister of Japan.^[2]

Eastern Japan route 6 January: Hokkaido 7 January: Aomori 8 January: Iwate 9 January: Akita 11 January: Miyagi 12 January: Fukushima 13 January: Yamagata 14 January: Ibaraki 15 January: Tochigi 16 January: Gunma 17 January: Saitama 18 January: Chiba 19 January: Tokyo 21 January: Kanagawa 22 January: Yamanashi	Pacific Ocean route 6 January: Kagoshima 7 January: Miyazaki 8 January: Ōita 9 January: Ehime 10 January: Kōchi 11 January: Tokushima 12 January: Kagawa 13 January: Okayama 14 January: Hyōgo 15 January: Osaka 16 January: Nara 17 January: Wakayama 19 January: Mie 20 January: Gifu 21 January: Aichi 22 January: Shizuoka	Japan Sea route 6 January: Okinawa 8 January: Kumamoto 9 January: Nagasaki 10 January: Saga 11 January: Fukuoka 12 January: Yamaguchi 13 January: Hiroshima 14 January: Shimane 15 January: Tottori 17 January: Kyoto 18 January: Shiga 19 January: Fukui 20 January: Ishikawa 21 January: Toyama 22 January: Niigata

Nagano

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Nagano city route commenced on 6 and 7 February before the opening ceremony

Eastern Japan route

1. 23 January: Kawakami, Minamiaiki, Minamimaki, Kitaaiki
2. 24 January: Koumi, Yachiho, Sakumachi, Usuda
3. 25 January: Saku, Karuizawa
4. 26 January: Miyota, Komoro, Kitamimaki
5. 27 January: Asashina, Mochizuki, Tateshina
6. 29 January: Wada, Nagato, Takeshi
7. 30 January: Maruko, Tōbu, Sanada
8. 31 January: Aoki, Ueda
9. 1 February: Sakae, Nozawaonsen
10. 2 February: Kijimaidara, Iiyama, Toyota
11. 3 February: Yamanouchi, Nakano
12. 4 February: Shinano, Toyono, Samizu
13. 5 February: Obuse, Takayama, Suzaka

Pacific Ocean route

1. 23 January: Urugi, Neba, Hiraya, Namiai
2. 24 January: Seinaiji, Achi, Iida
3. 25 January: Shimojō, Anan, Yasuoka
4. 26 January: Tenryū, Minamishinano, Kami
5. 27 January: Takagi, Takamori, Matsukawa, Oshika
6. 29 January: Nakagawa, Iijima, Komagane
7. 30 January: Miyada, Hase, Takatō
8. 31 January: Ina, Minamiminowa, Minowa
9. 1 February: Tatsuno, Fujimi, Hara
10. 2 February: Chino, Suwa
11. 3 February: Shimosuwa, Okaya
12. 4 February: Ōoka, Ogawa, Nakajō
13. 5 February: Kinasa, Togakushi

Japan Sea route

1. 23 January: Otari, Hakuba
2. 24 January: Miasa, Yasaka, Ōmachi
3. 25 January: Ikeda, Matsukawa
4. 27 January: Yamaguchi, Nagiso, Ōkuwa, Agematsu
5. 28 January: Mitake, Ōtaki, Kaida
6. 29 January: Kisofukushima, Hiyoshi, Kiso, Narakawa
7. 30 January: Shiojiri, Asahi, Yamagata
8. 31 January: Matsumoto, Hata
9. 1 February: Nagawa, Azumi, Azusagawa
10. 2 February: Misato, Horigane, Toyoshina
11. 3 February: Hotaka, Akashina, Shiga
12. 4 February: Ikusaka, Honjō, Sakakita, Omi, Sakai
13. 5 February: Sakaki, Kamiyamada, Togura, Koshoku

• 1998 torch relay via IOC website