Asian Games Flame Ignited at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

In Hiroshima, the Asian Games flame was born from a fire that never goes out.

On Thursday, at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, city mayor Kazumi Matsui drew a torch to the Flame of Peace, the fire dedicated to the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing. From that symbolic source, he lit the torch that would begin the journey toward the upcoming Asian Games.

Standing nearby was Hajime Moriyasu, head coach of the Japanese men's national soccer team and a man whose own playing career began in Hiroshima. A lighting rod he held was ignited from Matsui’s torch, before the flame was carefully transferred into a golden lantern, its glow catching the late-summer air.

The ceremony, part of the torch relay preparations for the quadrennial Games, carried a weight that went far beyond sport. Moriyasu underlined that point, saying he believes sports have the power to bind different values and cultures together, and calling on the athletes heading to the Asian Games to compete with all their strength while wishing for peace.

The event drew key political figures as well, including Aichi Prefecture governor Hideaki Omura and Hiroshima Mayor Matsui, underscoring the link between past hosts and the next chapter of the Games. Hiroshima itself has history with this stage: the city welcomed Asia’s best in 1994.

This year, the Asian Games will be held mainly in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4, with Nagoya at the heart of the action. The build-up is already in motion across the country. On Tuesday, Tokyo — host of the 1958 Asian Games — held its own flame-lighting ceremony for the Aichi torch relay.

The strands now move toward a single point. On Saturday, the flames from Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya will be brought together at Nagoya Castle. Once they merge, the torch relay for the Asian Games will launch across Aichi Prefecture, carrying with it not just the promise of medals, but a message lit in Hiroshima: compete hard, and remember why the flame was lit in the first place.