The opening ceremony of the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 23 July 2021 at the Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, and was formally opened by Emperor Naruhito. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture and history. The majority of the artistic spectacle was pre-recorded, with live segments performed adhering to social distancing to athletes, officials and a small VIP audience. The ceremony marked the 125th anniversary of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens—the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony was originally planned to start on 24 July 2020. On 24 March 2020, the games were postponed to 2021 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, however, the "Tokyo 2020" branding was retained to preserve the 4-year summer Olympiad cycle. The theme of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies was Moving Forward, which referenced the global COVID-19 pandemic. The opening ceremony theme was the Tokyo 2020 motto United by Emotion, with the aim to "reaffirm the role of sport and the value of the Olympic Games." The ceremony expressed responses to the pandemic by the athlete community, congratulate front-line workers, and included themes of lament, waiting and hope. The ceremony also showcased Japanese popular culture such as Japanese theater, video games, and variety shows, such as Kasou Taishou. For the second time in an Olympic opening ceremony, a minute of silence was observed in honor of the Munich massacre's 50th anniversary at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Preparations January 2017–December 2020: Original plans
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) gave the first report of preparations in December 2017, with the release of the "Basic Policy" document for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies. The document was based upon feedback from experts and opinions of the Japanese public and includes the foundational elements for the positioning and overall concept of the four ceremonies. The Olympic opening ceremony is to introduce the themes and concepts of the four ceremonies, including peace, coexistence, reconstruction, the future, Japan and Tokyo, the athletes and involvement.
Between July 2018 and December 2020, Mansai Nomura, an actor in traditional Japanese theater, was the chief creative director. of Balich Worldwide Shows, was the Senior Adviser to the Executive Producer. Balich was involved as producer of the ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics, and has done other international ceremonies such as the 2019 Summer Universiade and the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima. In July 2019, he mentioned that his involvement will be in partnership with the Japanese advertising company Dentsu. Dentsu's creative director for these ceremonies, Kaoru Sugano, resigned in January 2020 over harassment claims.
The new National Stadium, called Olympic Stadium during the Games, served as the main venue for the opening ceremony. Demolition of old National Stadium was completed in May 2015. Construction of the new stadium began at the site on 11 December 2016. The stadium was handed over to the IOC on 30 November 2019 for preparations. Had the pandemic not happen, audience of the stadium during the Olympic Games would have been 60,102, including account press and executive seating areas. Before the announcement of barring spectators was made, ticket prices for the opening ceremony were expected to range between ¥12,000 and ¥300,000.
Previous Olympic opening ceremonies in Japan, such as the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano, mixed ancient Japanese cultural elements with themes of peace, tolerance and coexistence. Reports from Inside the Games and Kyodo News in January 2020 suggested that this time would be a bigger focus on technology and its popular culture. According to reports from Shūkan Bunshun, the original program would include numerous references to J-pop and video games with the creative team led by world known choreographer MIKIKO, before it was scaled back. The plan was to follow on with what was presented in the Rio 2016 closing ceremony, where then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dressed as Mario in the handover segment.
According to the leak, the following artists, musicians, actors and cultural franchises were to appear in the ceremony: The ceremony would have begun with an emulation from a scene from Akira manga where Kaneda is racing on a motorcycle; Pop group Perfume were due to sing "Welcome to Tokyo," while the stadium would project computer generated imagery of the city's scenery and representing the Special wards of Tokyo, ending with one thing that connects the wards - the Subway systems; Singer Daichi Miura was to arrive from a wired frame car as a Tokyo Station staff member. His performance would evoke Tokyo's natural landscape with his face turning into a tree. Actress Tao Tsuchiya and were due to dance in a scene representing vitality of Japanese nature scenery before a tree turned into an eye and a clock, with then dancing duo to dance in the middle of the clock; Dancer Koharu Sugawara was to perform a choreography that would emulate the traditional tea ceremony; Dance group along with local high school students were due to perform with influences from the anime film Neo Tokyo; The entry of the Japanese flag would be guided by the actor Mirai Moriyama holding a glowing bō performing various elements of various Japanese martial arts. Next, a group of children would enter with the flag while holding lanterns. Comedian Naomi Watanabe was to perform in a skit as an office worker stuck in a post-apocalyptic world. She would be watching a flashback of the 1964 Summer Olympics on her computer. After the pre-recorded sequence, dancers with balls would have appeared with her and "READY" sign was to be shown before athletes entering the stadium while a drone show happened above their heads. The Wards of Tokyo would then transform into a projection of the globe; Before the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, a segment featuring popular video games and anime would be performed before the lighting of the Olympic Flame, with Nintendo representatives including Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto supervising the segment. Mario would have set to appear from a Warp Pipe, with appearances from well-known video game characters including Pac-Man, Pikachu from Pokémon and Sonic the Hedgehog, and anime characters Hello Kitty, Tsubasa Oozora from Captain Tsubasa, Doraemon and Goku from Dragon Ball. Mario would then reappear on an 8-bit with a group of dancers were to perform as various Olympic sports. The sequence of the Olympic cauldron would be practically the same as that presented at the ceremony.
December 2020–July 2021: Impact of COVID-19 In February 2020, following announcements that the Tokyo Marathon would be scaled back and restricted to elite athletes due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, speculation grew about whether the 2020 Summer Olympics could proceed as planned. Health officials, epidemiologists, and sports organizers began raising concerns about the feasibility of hosting a global multi-sport event during an unprecedented international health crisis. On 24 March 2020, after weeks of increasing international pressure and consultation with the World Health Organization, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Organizing Committee announced that the Games would be postponed until 2021. The decision marked the first time in Olympic history that the Summer Games were postponed rather than cancelled altogether. Both the 2020 Summer Olympics and the Paralympics were rescheduled, with the IOC affirming that they would be held no later than the summer of 2021. A subsequent announcement on 30 March 2020 confirmed that the opening ceremony was rescheduled for 23 July 2021, almost exactly one year after its original date.
The postponement had wide-ranging effects on logistics, athlete preparation, sponsorship agreements, and public perception of the Games. Throughout late 2020 and 2021, discussions continued over how ceremonies could be held safely, with many plans repeatedly revised or abandoned in response to fluctuating infection rates in Japan. Organizers were under pressure to balance traditional grandeur with public health restrictions, while also addressing growing skepticism from Japanese citizens, a majority of whom expressed opposition to holding the Olympics in surveys conducted in mid-2021.
In December 2020, a major leadership change occurred when Nomura Mansai, the Chief Creative Director of the ceremonies, stepped down. This led to the dissolution of his production team. Veteran stage director Hiroshi Sasaki was appointed as his successor, with Nomura staying on only as an advisor. At his introductory press conference, Sasaki remarked that earlier ceremony concepts were “too extravagant” in tone, and suggested that they would be restructured into a more modest, reflective program in line with the public mood and international expectations during the pandemic.
However, further controversy followed. In March 2021, Sasaki resigned after it was revealed that he had made derogatory suggestions about comedian Naomi Watanabe’s potential role in the opening ceremony. This resignation came only weeks after Tokyo 2020 president Yoshirō Mori himself stepped down following public backlash over sexist remarks he made about women in meetings. Sasaki’s departure added to a sense of instability around the creative leadership of the ceremonies. He was replaced by Kentarō Kobayashi, who became chief creative director, supported by Takayuki Hioki of Sports Branding Japan as deputy chief ceremonies officer and executive producer.
By late 2020 and early 2021, organizers were also debating the issue of audience attendance. While early discussions considered reduced capacity, by July 2021 it was determined that no live audience would be permitted due to public health concerns. The final compromise allowed only competing athletes (if they chose to attend), a maximum of six officials from each delegation, and a limited number of invited VIP guests. Much of the artistic and cultural programming was modified to comply with social distancing requirements, with many segments being pre-recorded rather than performed live. These measures reinforced the unprecedented and subdued atmosphere surrounding the Games.
On 14 July 2021, the Tokyo Organising Committee released a press statement unveiling the central concept of the ceremonies. The overarching theme was "Moving Forward," intended to highlight resilience, recovery, and the power of sport in the wake of the global pandemic. According to the creative team, the aim was to inspire hope and encouragement worldwide, with athletes themselves representing symbols of perseverance and renewal. Commentators noted that this thematic framing echoed statements made in March 2020 by producer Marco Balich, who had predicted that the ceremonies would inevitably have to acknowledge the pandemic and its transformative impact on global society.