Nagoya, Japan, July 23, 2026: The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games Organising Committee AINAGOC has opened the procedure for members of the public to attend the historic flame-lighting ceremony next month.
The ceremony will be held at the magnificent Nagoya Castle on Saturday, August 22 and will combine the flames from two earlier ceremonies in Tokyo and Hiroshima – previous hosts of the Asian Games in 1958 and 1994, respectively.
“We are recruiting general public attendance for the Torch Relay Nagoya Lighting Ceremony to be held at Nagoya Castle on August 22,” AINAGOC said in a social media post.
“On the day, the flame will be lit at Nagoya Castle and the flames from Tokyo and Hiroshima will be combined. You will be able to witness the historic moment when the torch is born.”
The speakers will include Mr. Hideaki Ohmura, AINAGOC President and Governor of Aichi Prefecture; Mr. Ichiro Hirosawa, Acting Chairman, AINAGOC and Nagoya City Mayor; Mr. Tsunekazu Takeda, Vice President, Olympic Council of Asia; and Ms. Seiko Hashimoto, President, Japanese Olympic Committee.
The first runner in the torch relay will be Saori Yoshida, former Japanese women's wrestling champion.
The application period for members of the public to attend this landmark ceremony is from Wednesday, July 22 to Friday, July 31.
Applications will be accepted through a dedicated form, and if there are too many applications the lucky attendees will be decided by lottery.
AINAGOC has announced that only two people from any group can apply, and that photography and video shooting during the event is prohibited.
The torch relay will cover 40 municipalities in Aichi prefecture and will incorporate a school relay from September 7-15 in 14 schools.
The 20th Asian Games will run from September 19 to October 4.