Beijing Games draw attention in Japan

The Beijing Winter Olympics have been warmly welcomed in Japan with its promotional video drawing attention at Tokyo's iconic crossing.

The video, which was made by the China Media Group, exhibits the charms of winter sports along with subtle but touching elements of the Chinese capital city. It was played multiple times on all major screens in the Shibuya Scramble Crossing starting from Wednesday.

"The video is not only a call for unity under the theme 'Together for a Shared Future', but also a hearty invitation to people from all over the world and all walks of life, to everyone coming to Beijing to enjoy winter sports," said He Xinlei, one of the organizers of the event.

With 10 lanes of traffic and where five major crosswalks converge, many Japanese commuters have watched the video at the world's busiest crosswalk.

"I hope the Games can make the world brighter, better, and more peaceful," said passerby Kei Machida.

Sensui Oikawa, a calligrapher who joined the event, wrote the theme banner in Japanese. "The Olympics can bring us a lot of inspiration and encouragement and I wrote the banner with those expectations," she told China Daily.

In addition to the athletes' performances, Japanese citizens found a variety of other things related to the Games appealing as well.

Gido Tsujioka, a reporter from Nippon Television Network Corporation who went to Beijing to cover the Games, became a hot topic on Chinese social media because he showed off his collection of Bing Dwen Dwen badges during a live news broadcast.

Tsujioka earned himself the nickname "Gido Dwen Dwen" due to his efforts to promote the panda mascot to the Japanese audience.

The opening ceremony of the Games also received good feedback. "Though smaller in scale than the Summer Games… the Beijing Winter Olympics are being staged by a much more prosperous, powerful, confident China," Asahi Shimbun commented.

In a Yomiuri Shimbun report, it said the athletes entered the opening ceremony with joy and pride to compete on the big stage. "The opening ceremony held at the National Stadium in Beijing was simplified to counter the coronavirus, but the mood of the winter festival was enhanced by making full use of video technology and lighting," it wrote.

A survey by public broadcaster NHK showed that ratings for the opening ceremony reached 21.3 percent in Japan. A rating of over 20 percent shows that people are generally pleased.