Announcement of the Grand Opening Ceremonies of the Ariake Arena and the Tokyo Aquatics Centre

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is developing new permanent facilities that will be used as the venues for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. The Ariake Arena was completed most recently on 9 December and the Tokyo Aquatics Centre is scheduled to be completed at the end of February. We are pleased to announce the finalised schedule for the grand opening ceremonies of the Ariake Arena and the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Details about the opening ceremonies and media invitations will be provided at a later date.

1. Ariake Arena

(1) Grand Opening Ceremony

1) Date and Time

Sunday 2 February 2020, from 10:00 am to 11:50 am

2) Location

Ceremony venue area at the Ariake Arena (1-11 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo)

3) Program

• Greetings from organiser and special guests
• Volleyball and wheelchair basketball demonstrations
• Mini-concert (TEAM BEYOND members, AKB48 Team 8)
• Facility tours etc.

4) Participation of Tokyo Residents

Tokyo residents are invited to the ceremony. Those who wish to participate in the ceremony will need to apply in advance (registration starts on 18 December. Those who live in Koto-ku, where the facility is located, will have priority slots).

• Please refer to the attached flyer(PDF:2,092KB) for details on the ceremony and how to apply. The dedicated website will open on 18 December at http://ariake-arena-shikiten.jp/(External link).
  The flyer and website are in Japanese only.
• After the facility is completed, temporary overlay work is scheduled by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Games, during which time the facility will not be open to use by Tokyo residents in principle. Additionally, the Ariake Arena will be operated under a public facilities management rights (concession) system and the service starting date for the public (planned after the end of the Tokyo 2020 Games) as well as acceptance of usage applications will be announced separately in a future release.

2. Tokyo Aquatics Centre

(1) Service Starting Dates

Tuesday 10 March 2020

• From the service starting date, temporary overlay work is scheduled by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Games, during which time the facility will not be open to use by Tokyo residents in principle. However, usage applications are planned to be accepted on condition that they do not interfere with preparations for the Games. See section (3) below for details.

(2) Grand Opening Ceremony

1) Date and Time

Sunday 22 March 2020 in the morning time

2) Location

Ceremony venue area at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre (2-2-1 Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tokyo)

(3) Usage Applications

The usage application periods to use the facility from the service starting date until March 2021 are as follows.

1) Priority Usage Application Period (for the use of international competitions, national competitions and Tokyo metropolitan competitions, etc.)

From Friday 10 January 10 2020 to Friday 24 January

2) General Usage Application Period (for other than the above competitions, etc.)

From Tuesday 18 February 2020

• Details for usage applications and usage applications from April 2021 will be available on the website of Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation.