Zhang Bi (C), a Chinese student who will take part in the relay on behalf of 100,000 Chinese students in Japan, receives interview in Nagano, the 16th leg of overseas Olympic torch relay, on Friday, April 25, 2008. [Xinhua]

"My colleagues and I have made several hundreds of Chinese and Japanese flags by hands and plan to pass them freely to spectators," said Masayuki Fuse, secretary general of the Nagano Prefectural Japan-China Friendship Association.

In Fuse's office packed with all kinds of stuff to be useful on Saturday are samples of a traditional Japanese "red-and-white bean cake." "We usually eat the cake to celebrate. This time we have printed words cheering the torch relay on the cake and will share our happiness by handing them out," Fuse said.

Several thousand Chinese students are heading to Nagano by chartered buses early Saturday morning to witness the historical moment and support the torch relay, said Li Guangzhe, chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Japan.

"We will cheer the event in peaceful forms and leave the dealing with other matters to Japanese police," Li told Xinhua.

"Although the torch relay encountered some unexpected disturbance in some western countries, I think most of people in Nagano expect for a smooth one in their own city," said Shoichi Ide, vice chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Association.

Neither as compact as Tokyo, nor as full of commercial atmosphere as Osaka, Nagano is a midsize Japanese city combining tradition and modernization. April is the city's cherry-blossom season.

Nagano is one of the only two Japanese cities which have hosted Olympic Games. Legacies of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, including sports centers, museum and memorial parks, could be seen all over the city.