It commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and exists to promote sports and an active lifestyle.

[citation needed] Another common event is often simply called the “exciting relay”, which is an obstacle course relay including any number of different challenges: Three-legged races, making a stretcher with a blanket and bamboo poles and then carrying an “injured” teammate, laundry hanging, tug-o-war, crawling on hands and knees under a net, and doing cartwheels across a mat.

[citation needed] The festival usually begins with a parade featuring all the different teams that will be participating: it could be divided by neighbourhood, class, geographic area, or school.

Once the parade has gone around the field and lined up in the middle, the band will play Kimigayo and the Japanese flag will be raised.

[6] With the Olympics and Paralympics postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government left this change in place for 2020 and passed an amendment to the Olympic and Paralympic Special Measures Act to make a corresponding change to the holiday in 2021, moving it to July 23.