Hiroshima Lights Torch for Asian Games Relay

The next Asian Games found their flame in a city that knows the weight of fire.

On Thursday in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a torch-lighting ceremony for the Asian Games relay unfolded beneath the shadow of history. The Flame of Peace, kept burning for the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. atomic bombing, became the source of a new sporting symbol.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui stepped forward to draw the fire. He lit a torch from the Flame of Peace, then passed that living line of history to Hajime Moriyasu, head coach of the Japanese men’s national soccer team. A lighting rod held by Moriyasu caught the flame, which was then transferred into a golden lantern – a small, gleaming vessel carrying both memory and hope.

The scene carried a personal echo for Moriyasu. He began his career as a corporate and professional footballer in Hiroshima, and now returned as the national coach, standing a few steps from the monument that defines the city’s modern identity.

“I think that sports have the power of binding different values and cultures together. I want athletes (who are set to participate in the Asian Games) to compete with all their strength while wishing for peace,” he said, tying the coming competition directly to the city’s call for a world without war.

The ceremony drew key political figures as well. Among those present were Matsui and Hideaki Omura, governor of Aichi Prefecture, which will serve as the main stage for the upcoming Games. The quadrennial event will be held primarily in Aichi, central Japan, from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

For Hiroshima, this was not just a ceremonial duty. The city hosted the Asian Games in 1994, using that edition to project a message of recovery and peace through sport. Three decades on, the flame returned, now destined for another Japanese host.

Tokyo, which staged the 1958 Asian Games, had held its own flame-lighting event on Tuesday. The capital’s fire, like Hiroshima’s, was prepared for a symbolic convergence.

The journey now leads to Nagoya. On Saturday, the flames from Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya, the capital of Aichi, are scheduled to be united at Nagoya Castle. From there, the torch relay for the Asian Games will begin across Aichi Prefecture that same day.

A single relay, three cities, and one question hanging over the road ahead: how far can this flame of peace and competition reach across Asia this autumn?