Opinion | In Tokyo Olympics, an all-too-fleeting glimpse of a youthful and diverse Japan

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka described the moment as “undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honour” of her life. Flaming torch in hand, she climbed the steps of a miniature Mount Fuji, lit the Olympic cauldron and, with that, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games began.

There were widespread fears in the build-up that the Games, which finish on Sunday after two weeks of intense sporting action, could become a superspreader event for host nation Japan. Set against the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there was little enthusiasm for an event that at times felt more like an obligation than a celebration.

Despite this, a reported 56.4 per cent of the Tokyo audience tuned in to watch Osaka and others participate in the opening ceremony. This was Japan’s largest domestic viewing percentage of any Olympic opening ceremony since Tokyo last hosted the Games in 1964. Then, Yoshinori Sakai – a man born in Hiroshima on the day the city was bombed in 1945 – served as the final Olympic torch-bearer in the relay.

The role is perhaps the most significant at any Olympics. It is generally reserved for the most high-profile sportsperson in the team or, in the case of Sakai or Muhammad Ali at Atlanta in 1996, a figure of resounding cultural significance for the host nation.

Unquestionably, Osaka is one of the highest-profile Japanese athletes to compete at these Olympics. As a biracial Japanese citizen born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, she is also a literal torch-bearer for this particular moment of change in the nation’s history.