The closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics took place in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo for about two and a half hours from 20:00 (JST) on 8 August 2021. The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, which was postponed for one year due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, was held without spectators. The scale was also reduced compared to past ceremonies as athletes were required to leave the Olympic Village 48 hours after their competitions finished.The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games announced that the number of attendees at the closing ceremony was about 4,500 people from the athletes of each country and region, about 850 people from the Games such as members of the IOC, and guests, and about 4,000 people from the media.

The proceedings combined the formal ceremonial closing of this international sporting event (including closing speeches, the parade of athletes and the handover of the Olympic flag) with an artistic spectacle to showcase the culture and history of the current and next host nation (France) for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The theme of the Olympic Ceremonies was Moving Forward, referencing the COVID-19 pandemic, with the closing ceremony theme being Worlds we share.

The closing ceremony was largely pre-recorded with some live segments. Performers adhered to social distancing measures during the live portions. The ceremony gave a chance for athletes to experience a day in a Tokyo park, included a "moment of remembrance", featuring cultural dances and folk songs from the three national ethnic groups of Japan, and had references to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The announcers at all ceremonies were Georges Veyssière (French), Mai Shoji (English) and Hiroyuki Sekino (Japanese).

Preparations The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) gave the first report of preparations in December 2017, with the release of the "Basic Policy" document for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies. The document was based upon feedback from experts and opinions of the Japanese public and includes the foundational elements for the positioning and overall concept of the four ceremonies. The Olympic opening ceremony introduced the themes and concepts of the 4 ceremonies, including peace, coexistence, reconstruction, the future, Japan and Tokyo, the athletes and involvement.

The opening and closing ceremonies has had three different directors as its Chief Creative Director. Between July 2018 and December 2020, Mansai Nomura, an actor in traditional Japanese theater, was the Chief Creative Director. Normura stepped down from the role and becoming an advisor. Between December 2020 and March 2021, Hiroshi Sasaki was Chief Creative Director, until Sasaki resigned after making a derogatory comment about Japanese comedian and fashion icon Naomi Watanabe. The reports came a month after Yoshirō Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, resigned over derogatory comments made about female members of the committee. Since March 2021, Takayuki Hioki, managing director of Sports Branding Japan, has been the Deputy Chief Ceremonies Officer and Executive Producer.

Italian , head of Balich Worldwide Shows, was the Senior Adviser to the Executive Producer. Balich performed these functions also during the production of the ceremonies on 2006 Winter Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics, among another events as 2019 Pan American Games and 2019 Summer Universiade. In an interview, in July 2019, he mentioned that his involvement would be in partnership with the Japanese advertising company Dentsu. Dentsu's creative director for these ceremonies, Kaoru Sugano, resigned in January 2020 over harassment claims.

COVID-19 impact In a preview press release, "Moving Forward" would be consistent theme for both 2020 opening and closing ceremonies. The ceremonies would be linked by the concept of "Moving Forward", a reference to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. "We have designed the ceremonies around the concept that the Games can bring fresh hope and encouragement to people around the world through the active appearance of athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Games and via the power of sport", organisers declared. This was expected, as just after the postponement, Balich went on record that the crisis would be mentioned at some point during the ceremony due to its significance at the games.

The closing ceremony theme was "Worlds we share" which is expected to cover themes of diversity & inclusion and a brighter and better future. Many sequences of the ceremony were pre-recorded, due to COVID restrictions including traditional Ainu dancers from Hokkaido.

Much of the artistic and cultural sections of the ceremony adhered to social distancing guidelines and the majority of segments were pre-recorded. Before the announcement of barring spectators were made, ticket prices for the closing ceremony were expected to range between ¥12,000 and ¥300,000.

Venue The Japan National Stadium served as the main stadium for the closing ceremony. Demolition of the old National Stadium was completed in May 2015, followed by the construction of the new stadium which began at the same site on 11 December 2016. The stadium was handed over to the IOC on 30 November 2019 for necessary games and ceremony preparations. Capacity during the Olympic Games was 60,102 taking into account press and executive seating areas.

Weather conditions 20:00 temperature humidity 94% 22:00 temperature humidity 97% No precipitation

Proceedings

Program

Title Procedure (JST : UTC+9)1A World of Applause Video showing highlights (20:00), Fireworks over Stadium (20:01)2Ready to Welcome Crown Prince Fumihito enters with IOC President, National Anthem of Japan performed by choir while raising the Japanese flag (20:02-20:08).3After the Games Parade of flag bearers (20:09-), BGM: Olympic March (Composer, Yuji Koseki), Highlights video of the sports competitions (20:18-20:20), Welcoming the Olympic athletes (20:21-20:42)4All Tokyoites Particles of light soar and form Olympic symbols (20:43-20:45), Music and performance to show the social life of Tokyo & entertain the athletes (20:45-20:58)5Our GratitudeA performance of the National Anthem of Greece (20:59-21:00), Medal Ceremony for Marathon Winners (Women 21:01-21:07, Men 21:08-21:17), Introducing new IOC Athletes commission members, video of volunteers followed by token of thanks from all the athletes for the volunteers (8 representatives on stage) (21:17-21:20)6We Remember Wadaiko performances and Japanese folk songs (21:20-21:34)7Prologue: To Paris 2024 The Antwerp Ceremony: started with the Olympic Anthem to lower the Olympic flag (21:35-21:39), Handover of the Antwerp flag from the governor of Tokyo (Yuriko Koike) to the mayor of the next host city, Paris (Anne Hidalgo), via the IOC President. Paris 2024 presentation video played (Performance video of the National Anthem of France by the Orchestre National de France 21:41-21:46, Signature of "Paris 2024" by Tony Estanguet 21:47-21:52).8Passing the Baton Speech by TOCOG President Seiko Hashimoto (21:54-), then IOC President Thomas Bach (Declare the closing of Olympic Games, 22:07)9On to the Next Chapter Figures of actress Shinobu Otake and children singing "A Stroll Among the Stars" (22:08-), Extinguishing the torch (22:15) with "Moonlight" of Debussy (arrangement by Isao Tomita), Video of the Paralympic Games (22:15-22:16), After loud fireworks, the 7 characters of "ARIGATO" projected on the large full high-definition video device (22:17)

A World of Applause A fireworks show began the ceremonies, while a highlights video played.

Ready to Welcome

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Crown Prince Fumihito entered the stadium while a theme from the film Tokyo Story played.Commentary from Channel Seven (JST 20:01)

The Japanese flag entered into the stadium carried by six people to the music of "Tokyo Story" by Takashi Yoshima: among these were 4 Olympic champions, the winner of the 60 kg event in judo, Naohisa Takato, the first Youth Olympic champion in breaking, Ramu Kawai, the swimmer Yui Ohashi, who won two gold medals on this Games: the first in women's 400 metres individual medley and another on the 200 metre medley and the artistic gymnast Takeru Kitazono winner of five gold medals on the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and a silver medal on team event on this senior games. The two non-athletes were the doctor Hiroyuki Yokota who worked as medical during the games and the fashion model Yano Amane who uses a leg prosthetic. Amane will who also be present on the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. while the stadium ground was framed like the Yoyogi park with grass all around. The flag was handed to members of the Japanese defence forces, who were present in all the awards ceremonies of the Games. The National Anthem of Japan was performed by the performance group Takarazuka Revue in women's hakama style.

After the Games (Parade of Athletes) The flag bearers then arrived in a two by two configuration, until they reach the middle of the stadium. They then surround the middle circle of the stadium floor. After the flags arrived at the stadium a highlights video of the events from all sports was shown.

The entrance of the flags featured the original 1964 Olympic Parade of Athletes music entitled "Olympic March", followed by a more modern-day remix by Fantastic Plastic Machine, KEIZOmachine!, Takeshi Nakatsuka and REMO-CON that played during the athletes' entrance, which combined modern day dance music with the original 1964 Olympic March, and it also featured elements of traditional music from around the world.

Once the athletes all arrived, the lights went out and the athletes were asked to turn on a light (such as a light on their smartphone) where then, an augmented reality (or taped) segment played to show the athletes were united under the Olympic rings.

All Tokyoites This segment was to show a day at the park in Tokyo while also showcasing Japanese popular music. The organisers also stated the segment was for the athletes: "Despite having come to Tokyo, the athletes have not had the opportunity to see or experience Tokyo for themselves." The musical portion featured performances by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, milet, , and the Tokyo Katakura High School Senior Brass Band (the latter performed remotely via pre-recorded material) performing a medley featuring LiSA's Gurenge, Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki, Ludwig van Beethoven's Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9 and Édith Piaf's Hymne à l'amour as the first reference to Paris, as the host city of the next Games in 2024. This also was the first appearance of Ode to Joy at an Olympic Ceremony since the Sydney 2000 opening ceremony.

Our Gratitude Marathon victory ceremonies

The Greek national anthem, Hymn to Liberty, was played before the marathon victory ceremonies to link the Ancient Olympics to the Modern Olympics. President of the IOC Thomas Bach (for Women's marathon), Vice-President of the IOC Anita DeFrantz (for Men's marathon) and World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe presented the medals to:

Women's marathon medalists

Men's marathon medalists

IOC Athletes Commission The new members of the IOC Athletes Commission were introduced and presented bouquets to Tokyo 2020 volunteers. A segment dedicated to volunteers was shown before the new members were introduced which featured the volunteers working on enhanced cleaning measures, social distancing and other safety guidelines due to the current COVID-19 pandemic safety measures.

We Remember