The decision was announced at the OCA's general assembly during the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The diamond-cut surface is also meant to represent the fresh air in the winter along with the snow and ice seen across Hokkaido.

The ceremony involved a lighting ritual presentation made by the Ainu people, indigenous from Hokkaido island .

[6][17] The closing ceremony of the games took place on 26 February at the conclusion of the men's event in the figure skating.

The ceremony was held at the Makomanai Ice Arena and also included an exhibition gala by some of the figure skaters who took part in competition.

[21][22] Countries from Oceania are however listed separately as they are not deemed as official competitors, but are considered as invited guest athletes (therefore they are not eligible for medals).

[25] Source:[26] *   Host nation (Japan)The official mascot of the 2017 Asian Winter Games is named Ezomon.

Ezomon is modeled after a very special type of flying squirrel only found in the Hokkaido region of Japan.

Ezomon sports a red scarf and a blue cape with the logo of the 2017 Asian Winter Games on it.

The founder and president of this hotel chain, Toshio Motoya, who is a strong supporter of political and historical view aligned with those of Japan's right wing.

For example, Motoya claimed that "Japanese aggression, the Nanking Massacre, and comfort women" were "fabricated stories" or "fictitious".

This created controversy, particularly in China, which caused the games organizers to ask the hotel to take appropriate actions and remove them from guest rooms.

[30][31] The Organizing Committee will gain exclusive access over the hotel from February 12, and an organization committee official said, "we can decide what is removed and placed in the guest rooms so that we don’t place any items that offend athletes, from not only China, but also any other nation”.

Included in this is the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017 being held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, till 19 February (the opening of the games).

[36] Also, the reason cited for low ticket sales, is that many top athletes chose to focus on the world championships of their various disciplines.