Tokyo 2020: Naomi Osaka lights Olympic Cauldron – opening ceremony, as it happened
- After a year's delay, and with no fans allowed, Japanese Emperor Naruhito declares Games open
- Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Tse Ying-suet carry Hong Kong flag after China's largest team for an overseas Games entered the Olympic Stadium
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There was an eerie atmosphere amid a sombre opening performance inside the empty 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, in stark contrast to the protesters against the Games who created plenty of noise on the streets outside before being drowned out by the procession music as the 206 teams took turns to enter and wave their flags.
Forty-six athletes (including two reserves) will represent Hong Kong across 13 sports, the second-largest delegation sent to the Games since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. China is sending a delegation of 777 people, with 431 athletes competing in 225 events across 30 disciplines – its largest ever overseas Olympic delegation.
SCMP has its own team in Japan, and in Hong Kong, providing you with up-to-the-minute coverage of all that happens, as it happens. Follow our live coverage of the opening ceremony below.
Reporting by Paul Ryding and Jonathan White (in Tokyo), Jack Lau, Sammy Heung, Ngai Yeung, and Maryann Xue