Friday, July 23rd was the Opening ceremony in Japan.
I was really excited to see all these epic moments near the Olympic Stadium.
Hope you guys will enjoy it!!
Want to take pictures at the Olympic ring??
Access 5 mins walk from Exit #3 of Gaiemmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.
11:45 p.m. Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka lights the Olympic flame.
Speculation that the four-time Grand Slam winner, the daughter of a Haitian man and a Japanese woman, could have a prominent role in the ceremony rose when Tokyo 2020 organizers requested that her opening match in the women’s singles event be pushed back by a day to Sunday.
“Undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honor I will ever have in my life,” Osaka wrote in a tweet after the event. “I have no words to describe the feelings I have right now but I do know I am currently filled with gratefulness and thankfulness.”
Other torch bearers in the stadium include baseball legends Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima, who is helped on his walk by former MLB star Hideki Matsui; a doctor and nurse; Paralympian Wakako Tsuchida; and school students from the quake-devastated Tohoku region.
11:35 p.m. Jazz pianist Hiromi hammers the ivories as legendary Kabuki actor Ebizo Ichikawa performs on stage that represents Mount Fuji and the sun.
11:30 p.m. A very enjoyable performance of actors representing the sports at Tokyo 2020 in the style of the pictograms designed for the 1964 Tokyo Games.
11:18 p.m. Emperor Naruhito declares the Games open.
11:13 p.m. Time for speeches now. Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto starts off by saying she hopes the Olympics will offer a moment of peace. She appears to be on verge of tears.
IOC President Thomas Bach says today is a moment of hope and expresses gratitude to the Japanese people for hosting the Games. He makes a special point of welcoming the refugee athletes.
10:50 p.m. In a stunning performance, 1,824 drones form a planet in the sky above the stadium, as a junior chorus sings John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Then, a video clip cuts to artists from all the world’s continents singing the classic sequentially.
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Alo Japan.