Hiroshima Lights Torch for Asian Games

In the city where Japan’s darkest memories still burn, a new sporting flame was born.

On Thursday in Hiroshima, a torch-lighting ceremony for the upcoming Asian Games took place at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, tying one of Asia’s biggest sporting festivals to a place synonymous with the call for peace.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Japan men’s national team head coach Hajime Moriyasu took center stage at the event. Matsui drew fire from the Flame of Peace, the monument dedicated to the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing, and used it to light a ceremonial torch. From there, Moriyasu stepped forward, holding a lighting rod that was ignited from Matsui’s torch. The carefully transferred flame was then sealed inside a golden lantern, ready to begin its journey.

For Moriyasu, the moment carried an extra layer of meaning. He launched his career as both a corporate and professional footballer in Hiroshima, and now returns as the national team’s head coach, linking past and present in a single gesture.

“Sports have the power of binding different values and cultures together,” Moriyasu said, calling on athletes heading to the Asian Games to “compete with all their strength while wishing for peace.”

The flame now moves on toward a tournament that will gather athletes from across the continent. The quadrennial Asian Games will be staged mainly in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, running from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4, with this Hiroshima-born light carrying a clear message into every arena it reaches.