2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony: Difference between revisions
Event in Tokyo, Japan
Coordinates: 35°40′41″N 139°42′54″E / 35.67806°N 139.71500°E
The opening ceremony of the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 23 July 2021 at Olympic Stadium, Tokyo,[3] and was formally opened by Emperor Naruhito.[4] As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture and history. The majority of the artistic spectacle was pre-recorded, with live segments performed adhering to social distancing to athletes, officials and a small VIP audience.[5][6] The ceremony marked the 125th anniversary of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens—the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games.
The theme of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies was Moving Forward, which referenced the global COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The opening ceremony theme was the Tokyo 2020 motto United by Emotion, with the aim to “reaffirm the role of sport and the value of the Olympic Games.”[1] The ceremony expressed responses to the pandemic by the athlete community, congratulate front-line workers, and included themes of lament, waiting and hope. The ceremony also showcased Japanese popular culture such as Japanese theater, video games, and variety shows, such as Kasou Taishou. For the first time in an Olympic opening ceremony, a minute of silence was observed in honor of 50 years since the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[7][8]
Preparations[edit]
January 2017–December 2020: Original plans[edit]
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) gave the first report of preparations in December 2017, with the release of the “Basic Policy” document for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.[9] The document was based upon feedback from experts and opinions of the Japanese public and includes the foundational elements for the positioning and overall concept of the four ceremonies. The Olympic opening ceremony is to introduce the themes and concepts of the four ceremonies, including peace, coexistence, reconstruction, the future, Japan and Tokyo, the athletes and involvement.[10]
Between July 2018 and December 2020, Mansai Nomura, an actor in traditional Japanese theater, was the chief creative director.[11][12] Marco Balich of Balich Worldwide Shows, is the Senior Adviser to the Executive Producer. Balich was involved as producer of the ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics, and has done other international ceremonies such as the 2019 Summer Universiade and the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima. In July 2019, he mentioned that his involvement will be in partnership with the Japanese advertising company Dentsu.[13] Dentsu’s creative director for these ceremonies, Kaoru Sugano, resigned in January 2020 over harassment claims.[14]
The new National Stadium, called Olympic Stadium during the Games, served as the main stadium for the opening ceremony. Demolition of old National Stadium was completed in May 2015. Construction of the new stadium began at the site on 11 December 2016. The stadium was handed over to the IOC on 30 November 2019 for preparations. Had the pandemic not happen, capacity of the stadium during the Olympic Games would have been 60,102, including account press and executive seating areas.[15] Before the announcement of barring spectators was made, ticket prices for the Opening Ceremony were expected to range between ¥12,000 and ¥300,000.[16][17]
Previous Olympic opening ceremonies in Japan, such as the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano, mixed ancient Japanese cultural elements with themes of international peace.[18] Reports from Inside the Games and Kyodo News in January 2020 suggested that there would be a bigger focus on Japanese technology and its popular culture in this ceremony.[19] According to reports from Shūkan Bunshun, the original program would include numerous references to J-pop and video games with the creative team led by MIKIKO before it was scaled back.[20] The plan was to follow on with what was presented in the Rio 2016 closing ceremony, where then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dressed as Mario in the handover segment.
According to the leak, the following artists, musicians, actors and cultural franchises were to appear in the ceremony:[20]
- The ceremony would have begun with an emulation from a scene from Akira manga where Kaneda is racing on a motorcycle;
- Pop group Perfume were due to sing “Welcome to Tokyo,” while the stadium would project computer generated imagery of the city’s scenery and representing the Special wards of Tokyo, ending with one thing that connects the wards – the Subway systems;
- Singer Daichi Miura was to arrive from a wired frame car as a Tokyo Station staff member. His performance…
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