The Olympic flame is officially in Japanese hands as doubt continues to swirl over the effect the coronavirus outbreak will have on the Tokyo Games.

Japanese Olympic swimmer Naoko Imoto received the flame from Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos in a scaled-down ceremony in Athens on Thursday morning.

The only people in attendance at the Panathenaic Stadium were two Greek priestesses who watched on as Greek Olympic gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias conducted a lap of honour with the flame.

"We bid farewell to this great Olympic symbol, which brings together humanity, antiquity and modern times," Capralos said as he handed the flame to Imoto.

"I wish to believe that the journey of the Olympic flame in your country will offer joy and hope to the people of the whole world, who are currently in pain and challenged."

The International Olympic Committee said they remain fully committed to staging the Tokyo 2020 Games as scheduled this summer, despite Japan's Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto suggesting it could be postponed until later in the year.