Asian Games Torch Relay Begins with Hiroshima's Flame

In Hiroshima, the next Asian Games began not with a whistle or a starter’s gun, but with a quiet flame.

On Thursday, at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a flame-lighting ceremony for the torch relay of the upcoming Asian Games was held in the shadow of the city’s history. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Hajime Moriyasu, head coach of the Japanese men's national soccer team, stood at the heart of the event.

Matsui drew fire from the Flame of Peace, the eternal light dedicated to the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing. From that symbolic source, he lit a torch, then passed the flame to a lighting rod held by Moriyasu. The fire was finally transferred into a golden lantern, a small, bright core that will now travel toward a very different kind of arena.

Moriyasu’s presence carried its own weight. He began his career as a corporate and professional footballer in Hiroshima, and on this day he spoke not about tactics or formations, but about meaning.

“I think that sports have the power of binding different values and cultures together. I want athletes (who are set to participate in the Asian Games) to compete with all their strength while wishing for peace,” he said, tying the coming competition directly to the city’s message.

This edition of the Asian Games, a quadrennial event, will be staged mainly in Aichi Prefecture from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. Hiroshima, which hosted the Games in 1994, now contributes something less visible but no less significant: its flame and its story.

The relay’s fire is being built piece by piece. On Tuesday, Tokyo — host of the 1958 Asian Games — held its own flame-lighting ceremony for the Aichi Games. Nagoya, the capital of Aichi, has also prepared its flame.

On Saturday, these three fires from Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya will be brought together at Nagoya Castle. Once united, they will launch the torch relay across Aichi Prefecture that same day, carrying with them not just the start of a tournament, but a reminder of why sport still matters when the world is watching.