Volunteers who made lives easy for touring party

Nagoya: The tiredness on their faces faded when bright smiles and respectful bows welcomed every passerby. Clueless about the many foreign languages spoken by the nationalities that have descended on Nagoya, their sincerity in trying to guide people in the right direction more than makes up for the frustration of not understanding one another.“Ah, my legs hurt a bit. But it’s okay,” said Satomi Kawashima, a 60-year-old public officer who jokes that she is 20 years old, flashing a thumbs-up at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, the track and field venue, as she directed crowds towards the stands ahead of the closing ceremony.Kawashima is one among around 40,000 volunteers aged between 18 and 91 who took a break from their normal lives – some from day jobs, others from home chores – to toil for over a month, helping athletes, support staff and technical officials at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.Often, as they say, volunteers become the soul of extravagant multi-disciplinary sporting events. The backbone of the event. It was much the same here over the past 30 days when competitions began much before the official opening ceremony on September 19. People from Japan’s fourth-largest city and its surrounding towns and cities travelled to be part of the hosting family for the country’s third Asiad, after Tokyo (1958) and Hiroshima (1994).Asian Games 2026: Late surge in gold powers India to 4th position“I don’t play sports, but when I heard an event this big was happening in my city, I wanted to be a part of it,” said 18-year-old Sana Matsumoto. “The athletes my age, and even younger, are so inspiring!” gushed the economics and management student at a university in Nagoya.Applications for volunteering opened as early as October 2024 and closed in April 2025. Those selected were given access to a volunteer app on their mobile phones through which they could indicate the days and venues at which they preferred to volunteer, although the organising committee made the final decision. Once assigned, their shifts ranged from six to eight hours, depending on the schedule of the sport on a particular day.“I live close by, and I have always enjoyed meeting new people. Isn’t this the best way?” asked a grinning Hiroshi, an octogenarian hopping around with a metal-detector wand at the entrance to the Nagoya Velodrome BMX Race Course in Naramura Ward. Asian Games 2026 close after a fortnight of turmoil and teenage triumphJust when you begin to appreciate the enthusiasm and wisdom of the elderly, it strikes that the older generation outnumbers the youngsters among the volunteers. From guides at metro stations holding placards to those manning security checks, assisting inside venues or even working at medal ceremonies, it was the wise old men and women who often took centre stage.According to recent reports, the Japanese government estimated that the number of people aged 65 and above stood at 36.24 million as of September 15 – a record 29.6 per cent of the population, or nearly three in every 10 people. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Japan had the highest share of older people among the 39 countries with populations exceeding 40 million.Clad in green shirts and grey trousers, and irrespective of the age differences, the old and young alike came together and took detours from their normal lives to work selflessly for the biggest world-class event the city had experienced.And after days of dedicating their lives to the service of others at a sporting extravaganza, the volunteers had plenty of memories to give away while making plenty more for themselves – even if, for some, they were only meant to last for a little while.

Source: Deccan Herald