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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Audience awed by Japanese-style opening of Olympics
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To many of the 50,000 spectators attending the two-hour opening gala, the program's Japanese elements -- from the ringing of the Zenkoji Temple bell and the participation of sumo wrestlers to the lighting of the Olympic cauldron -- provided a unique touch.
To hundreds of others who were not able to get tickets inside, being in Nagano during the Olympics was good enough.
''I think they did a really good job of blending a lot of Japanese culture. From the opening, to the sumo (wrestling), to the dancing at the end, it was very well done,'' said Brad Williams, an American financial worker now living in Tokyo.
Williams said he came to Nagano by new bullet train to watch the opening, holding a ticket he won from a drawing held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
''I think everyone thinks it's nice because you get to see whatever the traditional culture is and we enjoyed it,'' said Laurance Chase, a Boston native who said she will be in Nagano until the end, carrying her baby on her back as she did Saturday.
''It was very Japanese,'' said Kim Ihn Chee, a 19-year-old university student from South Korea.
''I thought that the sumo stuff was really interesting. I had never seen anything like that before,'' said Sarah Ellis, a 16-year-old American from Utah attending the International Youth Camp in Karuizawa.
People who will be involved in the next two Olympics in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 and Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002 had nothing but praise for their counterparts in Nagano.
Earl Holding, a member of the Salt Lake Olympics organizing committee, said, ''I thought Japan did a great job on the opening ceremony. I just thought we'll really have to do a good job so that we'd be able to stay up with (Japan).''
''I thought it was a beautiful opening. It was a nice blend of what had to be done in an Olympics opening,'' said Cathy Oswald, 32, a staff member of Sydney Olympic Broadcasting. ''(The organization) was just wonderful. We're learning new things every day.''
Spectators visiting from warm countries chimed in with praise.
Tsai Ya-huey, a visitor from Taiwan, said, ''I got the feel of Japan. I think it's really a precious experience to come here. Besides skiing, we don't have the chance to come visit here.''
The Japanese as well -- accustomed as they were to the cultural display -- were impressed by the launching of the first Olympics held in this country since the 1972 Sapporo Olympics.
''We took five days off work to come to the opening ceremony and the Games. The people at work didn't seem happy about it but we had to come because we don't know if it will happen again in Japan,'' said Takashi Ono, a 28-year-old businessman from Osaka.
Nagano resident Yumi Machida, 28, said, ''I think it was wonderful the way Nagano culture was presented and how the world became one.''
Still, there were others who felt let down in some way.
Ono's colleague, Koichi Senda, said the opening would have had better if it had been held at night, like the one held in the previous Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
For those who tried to get a glimpse of the opening ceremony outside the stadium, not even the absence of an outdoor television screen -- a fixture in major Japanese cities -- dampened their Olympic spirit.
''I'm lucky to be here,'' said Anne-Estelle Werner, a
Frenchwoman who came to Nagano from Tokyo for the weekend although she did not have a ticket. ''The fun here is not about seeing the ceremony but just being in Nagano.''
Antonio Ruiz, an English-language teacher from Yamanashi Prefecture, said he was just glad to meet various people.
''To be with people of different cultures is rewarding in itself,'' said Ruiz, who said he attended the games in Montreal, Canada in 1976 when he was 13. ''I'm leaving here with a good feeling inside.'' (Kyodo News)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun