On the morning of Dec. 23, the Olympic fire from Greece to set afire the grand torch of Nagano Winter Olympic Games arrived in Tokyo and, on the stretch of the trek, "paid a courtesy call" on Prime Minister R. Hashimoto.

It was brought to him by two couriers - Pres. Eishiro Saito of the Organizing Committee and figure skater Ms. Midori Ito, an Albertville silver medalist.

Given the torch, Hashimoto encouraged them to complete their task.

The fire baton is to be displayed at several sites in Tokyo, relayed then on 3 exhibition routes throughout mainland Japan from Jan. 6, 1998, and ultimately reach Nagano Olympic stadium where Ms. Midori will blaze its grand torch in the opening ceremony Feb. 7.

The fire will witness a 16-day streak of international events of winter sports for the ancient Olympic cause - world peace.