This year’s sakura-shaped Olympic torch has finally completed its long journey from Athens to Tokyo. The cauldron has been lit, and the Games of the XXXII Olympiad have officially begun. (fastcompany.com)

A Japanese super-fan who spent $40,000 on tickets for the Tokyo Olympics has been left 'heartbroken' by the ban on spectators which dashed his hopes of setting a world record. (Daily Mail)

Japan's Naohisa Takato hs won the first gold medal for the host nation, beating Taiwan's Yang Yung-wei in the final of the men's 60 kg judo. Takato, a bronze medalist at the Rio Games in 2016, cried after his victory in an empty Nippon Budokan, the legendary martial arts and concert hall. (Nikkei)

The Japanese government's cybersecurity body says many public- and private-sector websites briefly went down early Friday. (NHK)

Let's discuss the most memorable looks from the 2020 / 2021 Olympics Opening Ceremony in Tokyo, Japan! (Clevver Style)

Who will follow them as the next sporting legends? Here is the lowdown on the new wave of top athletes. (Nikkei)

A UNESCO committee has requested that a Japanese facility dedicated to a group of World Heritage sites provide more explanation on former wartime workers from the Korean Peninsula. (NHK)

In his first U.S. television interview, Japanese Prime Minister Suga speaks with NBC News’ Keir Simmons about the challenges of staging the Olympics in a pandemic, relations with the Biden administration and more. (NBC News)

HOKKAIDO (TR) – Hokkaido Prefectural Police have arrested a farmer who allegedly posed as a police officer during the molestation of a high school girl in Tomakomai City, reports Fuji News Network. (tokyoreporter.com)

French president Macron is expected in #Tokyo on Friday for a 36-hour visit during which he will attend the opening of the Summer Olympics and meet Japanese leaders. ( FRANCE 24 English)

The Blue Impulse aerobatic team from Japan's Air Self-Defense Force drew the five Olympic rings with colored smoke in the sky above an area near the new Japan National Stadium on early Friday afternoon, ahead of the official opening of the Tokyo Olympics later in the day. (Jiji)

Japanese corporate sponsors of the Tokyo Olympics have poured $3 billion into the Games, the largest-ever amount contributed by domestic companies. (fortune.com)

Tight Olympics restrictions are at odds with the rest of Tokyo, which remains a bustling place despite concerns about rising COVID-19 cases and a low vaccination rate. (CBC News: The National)

The Olympic flame has reached the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building after a 4-month journey across Japan. (NHK)

TOKYO -- Five years after its launch, Pokemon Go monsters still run amok in the world and are chased by a legion of fans. (Nikkei)

TOKYO - Japan's global superstar Naomi Osaka on Friday lit the Olympic cauldron to mark the start of Tokyo 2020, in an opening ceremony shorn of glitz and overshadowed by a pandemic but defined by hope, tradition and gestures of diversity. (gmanetwork.com)

The long-awaited Tokyo Olympics have officially kicked off. The Games were postponed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic. (NHK)

The Olympics are now underway and this year’s Games will be especially different due to COVID-19. CBC’s Thomas Daigle answers your questions from Tokyo. (CBC News)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 1,359 new coronavirus infections in the capital on Friday. (NHK)

COVID-19 cases among Olympic delegates are on the rise and roughly 15 per cent of those staying on site are unvaccinated, prompting warnings from medical experts about potential ripple effects if the world's largest sporting event doesn't clamp down on virus transmission. (CBC)

Olympics Athletes to suffer alongside Tokyoites as Japan's heat soars (Reuters)

Japanese fighter pilots drew Olympic rings in the sky over Tokyo Wednesday (CBS Miami)

Tokyo Olympics organisers have fired the opening ceremony director on the eve of the event after reports emerged of a past joke he had made about the Holocaust, while media said former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a strong advocate of the Games, would also not attend. (Reuters)

Six Polish swimmers were sent home from the Olympics because of an admin error - the federation had put down too many competitors. They found out in Tokyo their names weren't on the list. (INQUIRER.net)

Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games. (taiwannews.com.tw)