The precise figures are unknown since Nagano, after the IOC asked that the entertainment expenditures not be made public, destroyed the financial records, according to bid member Junichi Yamaguchi.

[a 21] The Nagano Olympics Games are a link to the 21st century, inspiring our search for wisdom for the new ear, respect for the beauty and bounty of nature, furtherance of peace and goodwill.

Friends worldwide are welcome to share, in the spirit of competition and fair play, the joys and glory of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games.

[a 38] Originally it was expected that both athletes and media delegations would arrive entirely via Narita International Airport, which did not happen given the high demand for plane tickets.

[a 53] Worldwide Olympic Partners: Gold Sponsors: Official Supporters and Suppliers: From 7 February 1997, the organizing committee put up for sale 1,286,000 tickets for the various competitions and ceremonies.

Tickets sales were a success in the domestic market, as the Japanese people finished the process of purchase with a reservation list of 6 million.

Outside from their structure, the stadium, who resembles a cherry blossom, one of main symbols of Japan.During the Games, the arena was exclusively used for the opening and closing ceremonies and, when added to the temporary infrastructure, its capacity reached 50.000.

At the Spiral, approximately 40,000 saplings, mainly beech and oak, were planted two per square meter, as part of the environmental stewardship committed during the Winter Games.

To accommodate the athletes and officials during the Games, the main Olympic Village was constructed in Imai district, this complex approximately 7 kilometers south of Nagano Station.

The responsibility for the construction of these buildings lay with the Nagano City, as a future public and low coast residential housing and was loaned to the organizing committee during the Games.

[b 24] In addition to athletes and officials, members of the Olympic and Paralympic family and other personnel were housed in 900 hotels and another structures in Nagano and surrounding regions, which represented 234,207 nights between 24 January to 25 February 1998.

Seiji Ozawa, a Japanese conductor, directed an orchestra from five continents (Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, New York City, and Sydney - and the crowd in the Nagano Olympic Stadium),[12] to perform the fourth movement of Beethoven's Symphony No.

[b 31] On the reverse side, the snowflower emblem of the Games sits above a maki-e image of the mountains surrounding Nagano glowing in the morning sunrise.

[b 32] The initial lacquering was handcrafted by artisans from the town Kiso, Nagano, and the metals components were added at the Mint Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Finance.

[b 35] The closing ceremonies, like those of the opening, took place in the Nagano Olympic Stadium, with 50,000 tickets sold.Akihito, the Emperor of Japan at the time, and his wife Empress Michiko were also present.

In addition, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic each won their first gold medals at a Winter Olympics in women's biathlon and men's ice hockey respectively.

However, Günther Huber and Antonio Tartaglia from Italy tied with the two-man team from Canada, Pierre Lueders: and Dave MacEachern for the gold medal, each with combined times of 3:37.24.

The German team of Christoph Langen, Markus Zimmermann, Marco Jakobs and Olaf Hampel completed the three runs in 2:39.41 for the gold medal.

Russia, Czech Republic, and Finland were joined by Kazakhstan in Group C; Canada, Sweden, and the United States were joined by Belarus in Group D. On 22 February, with 10,010 spectators in attendance at Big Hat, the Czech Republic defeated Russia in the gold medal game, 1–0, with the lone goal of the match scored with 12 minutes remaining.

This was the first time since the introduction of luge at the 1964 Winter Olympics that athletes other than those from Austria, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union won medals.

American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the youngest competitor in Winter Olympics history to earn a gold medal in an individual event.

On the women's side, the 500 m title was won by the Canadian Catriona Le May Doan, the favorite, who beat or equalled the world record four times before the Games.

Two cousins from Finland, Janne Lahtela and Sami Mustonen, who had never medalled at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup, were ranked second and third behind Moseley.

The silver medalist from the 1994 Winter Olympics, the Norwegian Bjarte Engen Vik, was the 1997–98 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup leader.

The skied together until the stadium, and 60 meters from the finish line, Lajunen passed the Russian and picked up the silver medal 0.7 seconds ahead of Stoliarov who won the bronze.

The last Norwegian skier had the time to grab his country's flag with 500 meters from the finish line, and they won gold with more than one minute lead over the team from Finland.

Normal hill bronze medalist Widhölzl led after the first round, ahead of the Japanese jumper Takanobu Okabe, Jani Soininen et Funaki.

Controversy occurred when three days after the men's giant slalom, the International Olympic Committee determined that gold medalist Rebagliati from Canada, was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana.

The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) was a temporary one-storey facility constructed on the grounds of a former textile mill in the immediate vicinity of the MPC and Big Hat.

[a 63] A wide range of general services, such as a restaurants, cafeterias, banks, post offices and a medical clinics were available at the IBC.