Fukushima Prefecture is still well short of its target for recruiting volunteers to help it stage some events during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics — a setback in its efforts to showcase its recovery from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
With the recruiting deadline set for the end of this month, the prefecture, due to host several softball games and a baseball game, is only a third of the way to its target of 1,500 volunteers.
Of the 503 people who had applied as of early February, 70 percent were in their 40s or above, with much lower participation from those in their teens and 20s, according to the prefecture.