Hiroshima Lights the Flame for Asian Games Torch Relay
In the fading summer heat of Hiroshima, a different kind of fire took center stage.
On Thursday, at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, the flame for the Asian Games torch relay was lit in a ceremony heavy with symbolism and history. This was not just another sporting ritual. It began at the Flame of Peace, dedicated to the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing, and carried that memory directly into a continental sporting festival.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui drew the flame first, lighting a torch from the eternal fire that has burned for decades as a reminder of the city’s past. From there, he passed it on. A lighting rod held by Hajime Moriyasu, head coach of the Japanese men's national soccer team, caught the fire next. The flame was then transferred into a golden lantern, its glow suddenly becoming both a memorial and a promise.
Moriyasu’s presence gave the event a distinctly footballing heartbeat. He started his career as a corporate and professional player in Hiroshima, and the city still shapes his outlook. Speaking at the ceremony, he underlined what this flame is meant to represent beyond medals and results: sports, he said, have the power to bind different values and cultures together, and he called on athletes heading to the Asian Games to compete with all their strength while wishing for peace.
The setting made his words land harder. Hiroshima, which hosted the Asian Games back in 1994, once again finds itself tied to the continent’s biggest multi-sport event. This time, though, the spotlight will fall mainly on Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, where the upcoming quadrennial Games will be staged from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.
The flame that left Hiroshima on Thursday is not traveling alone. Tokyo, host of the 1958 Asian Games, held its own flame-lighting ceremony on Tuesday for the Aichi Games. Nagoya, the capital of Aichi and another key city in this story, also has its own flame prepared.
The three fires are on a collision course.
On Saturday, the flames from Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya are scheduled to be brought together at Nagoya Castle. Once they are united, the torch relay for the Asian Games will finally burst into life across Aichi Prefecture, carrying with it a message born in a city that knows the cost of conflict and the value of peace better than most.
