Japanese torchbearer at Paris Games promotes volunteer activities

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Japanese businesswoman Mai Tarumi, who has been chosen as the torchbearer for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, has been actively involved in volunteer work and played a role in organizing events during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

As a torchbearer, Tarumi, 36, from the city of Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture in eastern Japan, will be running in a suburb of Paris on Saturday, hoping to get more people interested in volunteering in sports.

Tarumi has been familiar with volunteer work since childhood, as her grandmother helped organize national sports festivals and other events.

The grandmother told Tarumi, “Treat people with the spirit of ‘omotenashi’ (hospitality) when the Olympic Games are held in Tokyo again.” With these words in mind, Tarumi helped organize wrestling and taekwondo events at the Makuhari Messe Hall in the city of Chiba, east of Tokyo, during the 2021 Olympic Games. Before the 2021 Games, Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games in 1964.

Tarumi decorated part of the venue with paper orizuru cranes to let visitors enjoy the events.

In total, more than 70,000 volunteers played their part in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were held amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

To keep the momentum going, Tarumi and her colleagues set up an online group called Hello Volunteer. They wanted to raise awareness of volunteering in sports. For example, they wanted to help participants improve their volunteering skills and share relevant knowledge.

Hello Volunteer also built relationships with people abroad who were doing volunteer work.

Shortly before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Tarumi was asked by a Chinese volunteer about her concerns about organizing a major sporting event during the COVID-19 crisis.

Volunteers at the Tokyo Olympics also faced criticism, such as: “It is not the right time to hold the Olympics yet.”

Understanding how difficult it was to continue her volunteer work despite all the criticism, Tarumi contacted about 50 friends and sent the Chinese volunteer an encouraging message.

Kentaro Sawada, 50, co-leader of Hello Volunteer, praises Tarumi, saying: “She can say the first words, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Because her dedication and passion were so highly appreciated, Tarumi was selected as one of the 10,000 torchbearers for the Olympic Games in Paris, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.

On Saturday she will run about 200 meters in Melun, southeast of Paris.

Tarumi also wants to volunteer at the Olympic Games in Paris.

With Japan set to host the Deaflympics in 2025 and the Asian Games in 2026, Tarumi says: “Omotenashi will still be needed in the future. I want to tell people ‘you can do it.'”