Promoting Shinshu and Japanese culture in Opening Ceremony
On February 6, 1997, Musical Director Keita Asari, the general producer of the Nagano Winter Olympic Games, announced in Tokyo the outline of the Opening Ceremony for the '98 Nagano Olympic Games scheduled for February 7, 1998.

The Opening Ceremony will begin with the sound of the bell at Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City at 11:00AM. With the introduction of the ancient festival of Suwa Taisha Shrine (involving carrying and raising of huge sacred logs) and Sumo Grand Champion's ceremonial entrance into the ring, etc., the culture and tradition of both Nagano region and Japan will be projected. The Opening Ceremony will close with a performance of Beethoven's Choral Symphony (the Ninth) with five cities connected across the world in a global chorus. A strong emphasis is placed upon "participation" from people at the stadium and from all over the world.

The Opening Ceremony will be held at Minami-Nagano Sports Park in the Shinoi-tofukuji area of Nagano City, and it is scheduled to take two hours.

After the bell ringing at Zenkoji Temple, the sound of bells ringing from five continents will be transmitted and shown in the stadium via large screens and the sound system. When the townspeople of Suwa Town, Suwa

County, raise the huge sacred logs in the four corners of the stadium ground, upper division Sumo wrestlers will march into the stadium ground.

And the leading Grand Champion (the top ranking Grand Champion after the New Year's tournament of 1998) will perform a ceremonial entrance to the Sumo ring.

After this, elementary school and junior high school pupils will perform a dance, dressed like "snow children" wearing traditional straw rain capes.

This will be followed by the Opening Declaration, entry of the Olympic Flame, and the athlete representative's Olympic Oath, finally ending with Beethoven's Choral Symphony conducted by Seiji Ozawa. A chorus of 2,000 singers gathered from various parts of Nagano Prefecture will be joined by choruses in five major cities across the world (Beijing, Berlin, others) via broadcast satellite.

It is unusual for the overview of the Opening Ceremony to be made public one year before the event. At the press conference, Mr. Asari spoke of his intent, "I will seek to produce the program with more emphasis on spirit and culture, rather than on an entertainment aspect as such. I would like to listen to many different opinions, and develop the program more so as to make it even more meaningful." The plan will become official when it receives the approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in May 1997.