Week 4: The Torch Relay

The Olympic Torch Relay was by far one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had here so far. As soon as I stepped out of my apartment early that morning, I could already see three police helicopters; the air buzzed with tension and the rapid throbbing of helicopter blades.

I made my way to the main street; the city was alive with excitement. I found a good lookout point only a couple of hundred meters from Nagano Station, amongst a sea of red flags. There were already some police in place, but moments after I got there, another wave arrived. The tension that mounted the scene was incredible – and was the main reason I actually went there.



I’m not kidding. About 3,000 police were mobilised for the event, with over 100 policemen running with the torch, and five helicopters crammed in the same patch of sky. A friend of mine, who was up in the mountains at the time, said that the helicopters looked like giant insects hovering over Nagano.

Here’s a video I took of the relay. This was just a minute or two after someone was arrested at the station for trying to extinguish the Olympic flame. (The chants of “China! Zhongguo!” made me want to learn both Japanese and Chinese even more.)



Not long after the torch had passed, I saw the press. I also saw this guy: