A mostly sombre affair that reflected the pandemic backdrop to the Games, the ceremony nevertheless celebrated Japanese culture and entertained

Before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic opening ceremony an adviser to the production, Marco Balich, had promised a sobering ceremony, with beautiful Japanese aesthetics. It felt mostly very subdued indeed until the last half-hour. Here are 11 of the key moments.

That silence. You could hear a pin drop. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/jxXrjcnYXV

Gamers hearing Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest music playing during the #OpeningCeremony of the #Olympics pic.twitter.com/pNLW62Gxpy

IMAGINE.
John and I were both artists and we were living together, so we inspired each other. The song ‘Imagine’ embodied what we believed together at the time. John and I met – he comes from the West and I come from the East – and still we are together.#IMAGINE50 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/mj2wJEUIiV