Heavy security surrounds torch runner in Japan

NAGANO, Japan (AP) — The Japanese leg of the Olympic torch relay began today with thousands of riot police lining the streets, helicopters buzzing overhead and demonstrators gathering for a pro-Tibet prayer vigil.

Police guards in track suits surrounded the first runner — the manager of Japan’s national baseball team — and an additional 100 uniformed riot police trotted alongside six patrol cars and two motorcycles. They were backed up by thousands of other police.

Japanese officials said the security was unavoidable, and called for calm. But the high-profile police presence has dissipated any festive mood in Nagano, which hosted the 1998 Winter Games.

The starting point — a last-minute substitution after a Buddhist temple pulled out — was closed to the public, as were all rest stops along the way.

The relay, making its 16th international stop, has been disrupted by protests or conducted under extremely heavy security at many sites since it left Greece.

The protests are largely in response to China’s crackdown last month on protests in Tibet, which it has governed since the 1950s, and to concerns over human rights issues in China.

The international route ends next week, with stops in South Korea on Sunday, North Korea on Monday and Vietnam on Tuesday. The flame arrives on Chinese soil on May 2 in Hong Kong, for a long journey around the country before the Aug. 8 start of the games.