Programme The event, which was set to last three and a half hours, started at 20:00
JST, featured many sequences of the ceremony which were pre-recorded. The titles from this section largely come from the organisers.
Prelude On the day of the ceremony, there was an exhibition flight by
Blue Impulse, the aerobatics squadron of the
Japanese Air Self Defense Force. The squadron drew the Olympic Rings over the Tokyo skies, marked the 57th anniversary of the 1964 Games for the first time in Tokyo.
"Where the Stories Begin" A stop motion video begins showing many geometric shapes drawn in chalk, before showing a birds eye shot of the stadium. The camera zooms in on National Stadium, while a flock of doves fly by. The camera zooms into the grass ground where it focuses on a seed. Cutting to a live shot, an athlete is lit in green, while a projection of a seedling growing is shown behind the athlete. A videotaped montage of Tokyo's recap to hosting the Games began, from awarding the rights in 2013 during the
125th IOC Session, to the hard work and training of the athletes, to the
2016 Summer Olympics, to the qualification of the athletes and then, the chaotic events of 2020 when the world suddenly changed, which caused the athletes to continue training from home via video communication. A countdown from '21' referencing the postponement of games played, showing athletes overcoming the challenges of the past year. At 0, 694 fireworks then are then set off.
"Apart but Not Alone" The first performance of the ceremony, designed "[showcase] Japan's forte in digital art and
projection mapping technology," featured a digital graphics projection on the stadium floor, at the centre of which nurse and boxer
Arisa Tsubata, who won a national championship only two years after taking the sport, then was joined by performers on an exercise cycle, rowing machine, running in place, while performers abstract danced and coloured ball of light were projected,
"A Welcome from the Host" The following act featured the Japanese national flag and was carried by six bearers. They are: •
Yoshinobu Miyake, two time Olympic weightlifting champion •
Naoko Takahashi, Olympic marathon champion •
Momoha Tabata, Youth Olympic curling medallist • Hibiki Sakai, percussionist •
Keita Dohi, Youth Olympic sport climbing champion • Mizuki Asaba, a rescue worker who was involved in search and rescue (SAR) mission of the victims of the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Then, veteran singer
Misia, who wore a dress designed "to honour the
LGBTQ+ community and symbolise the fight for LGBTQ+ equality" made by openly gay costume designer
Tomo Koizumi,
"A Lasting Legacy" The unveiling of the
Olympic Rings, which were made from trees planted in the Olympic Village during the 1964 Summer Olympics. It starred
tap-dancing performers wearing coats, which were traditionally worn by
Edo-era craftspeople and carpenters and evoked
Japanese summertime festivals, at which this style of clothing is common, A pre-recorded video was shown of
Muhammad Yunus receiving the
Olympic Laurel award in Bangladesh, because Yunus could not travel to Japan due to travel restrictions related to the
COVID-19 pandemic in that country.
"Here Together" Parade of Nations The
Parade of Nations followed with the
team delegations marching into the stadium. Following tradition, the delegation from the host nation
Japan entered last. The
Refugee Olympic Team, composed of refugees from several countries, was the second nation to enter, after Greece. For the first time ever in the opening ceremony, the countries that will host the next two Olympic Games,
France (in
2024) and the
United States (in
2028), marched immediately before the host nation Japan entered, The names of the teams were announced in French, followed by English and Japanese, the official languages of the
Olympic movement and the host nation, in accordance with traditional and
International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines. Each of the signboards displaying the countries' names was written in Japanese on one side and English on the other, enclosed in
speech balloons, evoking
manga panels, In their entrances, several teams, including
Argentina and
Ghana, which other athletes had done as well while looking at their phones. Japan inverted the colours of the uniform they had used in the 1964 Olympics, while
France paraded in three rows, representing the
tricolor flag. Two flagbearers,
Tonga's Pita Taufatofua and
Vanautu's Riilio Rii, paraded shirtless and oiled. During the parade of nations,
Mohamad Maso of
Syria was reunited with his brother,
Alaa, who represented the
IOC Refugee Olympic Team. For the first time, each team had the option to allow two flag bearers, one male and one female, in an effort to promote gender equality. Before the athletes paraded in, a sign inside the stadium pointed out that the athletes should keep social distance between themselves and how far was the entrance as well as the restroom.
Motto and oath The Parade of Nations finished with the projection of the Olympic motto,
"Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together" in the middle of the stadium floor, between the athletes, which were organised into quadrants after they marched in. The following oath was delivered by 6 participants from the Tokyo delegation:
"Imagine" Groups of all ages entered the stadium dancing around boxes, which were organised into three circles and then into the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 emblem logo. It was arranged by
Hans Zimmer, and had musical support provided by TAIKOPROJECT and the Synchron Stage Orchestra and Stage Choir. Bach in his 13-minute speech, highlighted that the Olympic movement showed the unifying power of sport, and expressed his gratitude to healthcare workers, the
volunteers and described participating
refugee athletes as an enrichment for society. Both speeches were scheduled to last a combined total of nine minutes, but in the ceremony the segment took over twice as long. The Olympic Flag then entered the stadium. Many of the flag bearers were both athletes and front-line nurses, doctors and healthcare workers during the pandemic. The flag bearers were: •
Americas: Paula Pareto,
Judoka and Physician •
Africa: Mehdi Essadiq,
Triathlon •
Europe: Paola Egonu,
Volleyball •
IOC Refugee Olympic Team: Cyrille Tchatchet II,
Weightlifter and Nurse It was then handed to front line workers from Japan and was raised by the Japan Guard. Out of the 50 pictograms, 48 were acted out by the performers using camera angles and various props, some done live in the middle of the stadium, others in prerecorded segments additionally with hand gestures,
finger tutting, studio lights, and
karate gi. During one prerecorded segment, parts of the song "
Camptown Races" could be briefly heard while the equestrian-related pictograms were recreated. The first pictogram shown, the one for the
modern pentathlon, was initially depicted as a static image before the performer portraying the running figure moved out of place, setting up the nature of the performance, while the one for sailing was found printed on a propsman's shirt. The segment was directed by HIRO-PON (from
Gamarjobat)
"Hope Lights Our Way" Before the flame arrived at the stadium, a recap video played showcasing the flame's journey across Japan featuring the song
Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) performed by
Queen. The flame was brought into the stadium at the end of the
torch relay by wrestler
Saori Yoshida and judoka
Tadahiro Nomura. It was carried by a trio of Japanese baseball greats (
Shigeo Nagashima,
Sadaharu Oh, and
Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui), a doctor and a nurse, paralympian
Wakako Tsuchida, and a group of students from
Iwate,
Miyagi, and
Fukushima prefectures who were born shortly before the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Finally, Japanese tennis player
Naomi Osaka carried it up the steps to light the Olympic cauldron; Osaka herself would compete for Japan in the Olympics before being eliminated in the third round of the women's tennis competition. Three hours later, the badminton player
Ayaka Takahashi lit another cauldron, outside the stadium which was off-limits to guests. Due to the state of emergency, the cauldron was off-limits to guests and situated outside the Olympic Stadium. The
cauldron was designed by Canadian-Japanese designer
Oki Sato, who attended
Waseda University, the same university as
Yoshinori Sakai, the cauldron-lighter in
1964. The music featured in the cauldron lighting included
Boléro by
Maurice Ravel, "Rise of the Planet 9" from Dr. Copellius, composed by
Isao Tomita, followed by the fireworks featuring the music of
Takashi Yoshimatsu's Symphony No. 2 "At terra". ==Dignitaries in attendance==