Opening ceremonies are an opportunity for the Olympics’ host nation to show the world what it’s all about. In extreme cases, a flawless spectacle, like Beijing pulled off in 2008, can help define global opinions of a country for years.
With Tokyo in a state of emergency and just 950 spectators filling a stadium built for 68,000, Japan was already under a lot of pressure to pull off a memorable ceremony. But a series of high-profile scandals involving the event’s creative leadership have revealed an ugly side of Japan that the country would have preferred was kept offstage.