The cauldron was lit after a special arrival ceremony in Tokyo this morning.

He had run a full lap of the plaza before taking the Torch through an underground car park and then reappearing on the stage to light the Flame.

The Flame has spent the last 15 days in the precincts of Tokyo’s Metropolitan District and some 46 Torchbearers from Shinjuku carried the flame in an alternative ceremony held in front of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Shinjuku local mayor Hirofumi Shimizu.

The official instructions for the day said that “Torchbearers in Shinjuku who were scheduled to run on the day will light the Torch and pass it around to one another (this action is called a ‘torch kiss’) on the stage,”

The runners in the event took part in an event around the large circular square.

They were positioned at approximately 10 metres apart and each struck one of the approved Torch Relay poses in what appeared to be a carefully choreographed event that seemed short on the spontaneity usually associated with the passing of the Flame.

Repetitive background music accompanied each Torch “kiss”.

Japanese Olympic Committee President and legendary Judoka Yasuhiro Yamashita had carried the Flame.

The Los Angeles 1984 Olympic gold medallist Yamashita is also an International Olympic Committee Member.

IOC President Thomas Bach did not participate in the Relay.

The event was low key, in stark contrast to the scenes which greeted the arrival of the Flame in Atlanta in 1996 at Sydney 2000. when crowds had brought the Harbour Bridge to a standstill, and London 2012 when a concert was held in Hyde Park to celebrate its arrival.

Many of the Prefectures in Japan have been forced to take the Flame off road.

This was the case in Sapporo which is to stage the marathon and race walks.

Tonight, the Flame is set to be taken to the Olympic Stadium where it will be lit as the climax of the Opening Ceremony.