Actors and dancers dressed as carpenters perform during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games, at the Japan National Stadium on July 23, 2021. (Mainichi/Naotsune Umemura)

       TOKYO -- The Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on July 23 was met with a mixed reaction on social media, with some users in a festive mood while others opposed the games being held, and criticized the ceremony's production.

       On the afternoon of July 23, when the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse aerobatics fighter jet team flew over the heart of Tokyo, many social media users posted photos and videos of the aircraft and the Olympic rings they created with colored smoke. However, the crowds that flooded parts of the capital to take in the spectacle provoked voices expressing concern over the coronavirus transmission risk.

       In the evening, following news that tennis star Naomi Osaka had been selected as a torch relay runner, the hashtag "final torchbearer" trended on Twitter. The names of Olympic medalists, including those who won medals at winter games, also emerged as possible candidates to light the Olympic cauldron at the Japan National Stadium. After the many scandals that have engulfed the games organizers right up to the day before the opening ceremony, netizens were looking forward to some positive surprise, with some users declaring, "Only Godzilla can pull this off."

       After 8 p.m., as the opening ceremony began, positive messages proliferated on Twitter, such as one saying, "I can feel the underlying strength of Japan!" There were especially enthusiastic posts about the ceremony's production, as users expressed excitement over the people who appeared and the featured music. When dancers wearing "happi" coats gave a performance, and an NHK announcer said during the live commentary that "it represents 'unity in diversity,' a core principle of the Olympics," some commenters turned harsh, with tweets such as, "This is what (high-ranking) Japanese people lack the most," and, "This is already chaos."

       The theme song for the video game "Dragon Quest" played as athletes entered the stadium, leading the abbreviated Japanese for the game "DraQue" to trend on Twitter. Koichi Sugiyama, who composed the music, has been known to make discriminatory remarks against the LGBTQ community. This sparked criticism online, including, "Why is Koichi Sugiyama OK, while Kentaro Kobayashi isn't?", referring to the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony show director dismissed a day before the event over a past Holocaust joke, and, "This Olympics embodies almost all forms of discrimination."

       There were also composers who did not know in advance that their music would be used. Keiki Kobayashi, who composed music for the Ace Combat game series, took to Twitter, saying, "My music is being played at the Olympics lol," "Wow, I really didn't know, my hands were trembling," and "Amazing! I'm so happy! Yay!"

       Meanwhile, some users launched a Twitter-based protest with the hashtag "Stop the Olympics and protect lives." Related posts included one that read, "There must be a decision to cancel the Olympics as a choice to protect lives," as well as, "Should we be holding the Olympics when a medical collapse is right in front of us?" One nurse also claimed that their and their colleagues' physical and emotional capacities would reach their limit if the coronavirus spreads any further.

       (Japanese original by Asako Kamihigashi and Masakazu Yui, Digital News Center)

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0