The opening ceremony of ASIAD 20 will take place at 4:00 PM on September 19th at Paloma Mizuho Stadium, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. With the theme "Harmonic Heart Beat", the program is built around the connection between people, local culture and technology.
Japan has spent 7 billion Yen (about 46.5 million USD) for the opening ceremony, an increase of 2 billion yen compared to the initial budget. About 70-80% of this funding is allocated to the program.
The organizers do not put technology at the center but combine projection with performances by artists, athletes, volunteers and local people.
The director of the opening program is Mr. Yukihiko Tsutsumi, who was behind the TV series TRICK and the film trilogy 20th Century Boys. In addition, thousands of volunteers, dancers and local martial artists have been trained for months to participate in the opening ceremony.
One of the technology highlights is the industrial robot arm system that controls the flags in the stadium. The device is expected to create precise movements, combined with human formations and light to create effects on the stadium.
Security work is also being deployed on a large scale. About 10,000 police officers are mobilized every day during the opening ceremony. A no-fly zone with a radius of about 1km around the stadium is also established.
The torch lighting ceremony is performed according to a journey including 3 sources of fire, from Tokyo, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Nagoya Castle.
Freestyle wrestling legend Saori Yoshida was the first to hold the torch. Then, about 1,000 people, including former female football legend Homare Sawa, tennis player Kimiko Date and elementary school students participated in the torch relay through 16 districts of Nagoya.
ASIAD 20 gathers about 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and territories, competing in 43 sports, 71 sub-sports with 469 sets of medals.
The Vietnamese sports delegation with 348 athletes participating in 33 sports aims to win 4 or more gold medals.
