11th Olympic Winter Games, Sapporo Torch Relay commemorative postcard, 1972.

“From Olympia, where it was lit, the flame was taken by car to Athens, where it is flown to Japan.

“On 30 December 1971, the torch arrived at Okinawa Island, where a 60km relay took place around the island the following day.

“On 1 January 1972, the flame reached Tokyo. A ceremony was held at the National Stadium.

“On Japanese soil, the flame was taken first to Nirasaki. There, it was split in two and followed two routes up the island of Honshu, one on the east coast the other on the west coast, meeting at Aomori in the north of the island. Once on the island of Hokkaido, after crossing the Tsugaru Strait, the flame split in three, passing through the cities of Hakodate, Kushiro and Wakkanai before reaching Sapporo.

“On 29 January, the three flames reached Sapporo.

“On 30 January, the three flames were reunited at a ceremony attended by IOC President Avery Brundage. The flame was then taken to the City Hall square.

“On 3 February, the flame was taken to the Opening Ceremony. Skater Izumi Tsujimura passed it to Hideki Takada, who lit the cauldron.”

– “Sapporo 1972: The Torch”, Olympics.com

11th Olympic Winter Games, Sapporo Torch Relay commemorative postcard, January 1, 1972. First-day issue, tracing the routes taken by over 18,000 torch runners from Tokyo to Sapporo. For the relay in Japan, only boys and girls aged between 11 and 20 participated. The final torch bearer was Hideki Takada, a 16-year-old high school pupil from Sapporo, who lit the cauldron in Sekisui Heim Olympic Stadium. Japan would win its first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics.

Postcard reverse:

11th Olympic Winter Games, Sapporo Torch Relay

“The Olympic Torch, lit at the Temple of Hera at Olympia, Greece, on December 28, 1971, is to be borne by air to Tokyo reaching there on first day of the new year, 1972.

“The Torch leaves Tokyo on January 2, 1972, carried in relays by 18,124 Japanese runners through the main cities of Eastern Japan over a distance of 4,763.6 kilometers.

“The Sacred Flame arrives at Makomanai, Hokkaido, on February 3, 1972 for the opening ceremony, rising from the cauldron throughout the period of the Games.”