page_title: 2017 Asian Winter Games
section_title: Torch relay
hierarchical_section_title: 2017 Asian Winter Games / Development and preparation / Torch relay
caption_attribution_description: Odori Park in Sapporo-shi of Hokkaido, Japan. 日本語: 大通公園
context_page_description: The 2017 Asian Winter Games was the 8th edition of the Asian Winter Games. They were hosted in Sapporo and Obihiro in Hokkaido, Japan. These Games were originally scheduled for 2015, however, in the Olympic Council of Asia's general assembly in Singapore on 3 July 2009, the committee decided to move the Games to one year before the Winter Olympics moving forward. The games began on 19 February with the opening ceremony and ended with the closing ceremony on 26 February.
  Sapporo and Obihiro were named as the host cities on January 31, 2011, as the sole bidding cities. The hosting contract was signed by Tsunekazu Takeda, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee. It will be the third time that Sapporo will host the event and fourth time in Japan. Previously the city held the two first editions of the Games in 1986 and 1990. Before hosting the first Asian Winter Games, the city was also the host of the 1972 Winter Olympics and the 1991 Winter Universiade.
context_section_description: The torch was lit on February 5 at the Sapporo Snow Festival being held at the Odori Park located in central Sapporo. The ceremony involved representants of the Ainu people, indigenous to the Northern part of Japan. The relay in itself only lasted one day (on February 6), with the closing of the day seeing the Kamuinomi, which is a ritual of the Ainu people. The ritual involved praying for the success of all the athletes taking part in the games. From February 7 to the 17th, the flame be split and then displayed at the City Halls of both Sapporo and Obihiro, as well as the 10 ward offices of Sapporo.The main cauldron was in Sapporo City Hall and also used for the 1972 Winter Olympics, until the hours before the Closing Ceremony, on February 26.
caption: Sapporo's Odori Park hosted the torch lighting ceremony
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