The fireworks went off. The music played. Japan's emperor and empress watched from the stands. The Asian Games had officially begun.
But for a ceremony billed as a sell-out, one thing was hard to miss in Nagoya on Saturday night: the empty seats.
The 30,000-capacity Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium was filled in parts, but several sections were noticeably short of spectators as the opening ceremony unfolded. The contrast between packed areas and rows of vacant seats prompted an obvious question: what kept people away?
The weather may have had much to do with it.
Organisers had been keeping a close eye on a typhoon threat in the days leading up to the Games. Although the storm eventually shifted away from Nagoya and there was no rain during Saturday night's ceremony, concerns about the weather appear to have affected some spectators' plans.
Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain Al-Musallam acknowledged the weather factor while addressing the issue on Sunday.
"But maybe if you remember, it was a typhoon warning coming to Nagoya and at the last minute the typhoon shifted," Al-Musallam said.
"So the same question I've been asked, what happens if the typhoon is coming? That could affect the situation."
There was another explanation for some of the empty sections.
Al-Musallam said one block had to remain vacant because of the Games flame, while insisting that more than 70% of tickets had been sold.
"This is one part," he said.
That explanation, however, appeared at odds with an announcement made at the stadium that the ceremony was sold out.
The weather threat had been genuine, even if Nagoya escaped the worst of it. The storm instead had a greater impact around Tokyo, where heavy rain was reported on Sunday and several Asian Games events are being held, including swimming.
Nagoya was also forecast to see wet weather later Sunday and Monday.
So while the empty seats became one of the most visible talking points from the opening night, they did not necessarily tell the whole story. Some were intentionally left vacant, while others may have reflected spectators' reluctance to risk travelling amid warnings of severe weather.
And ultimately, the ceremony itself went ahead without disruption.
Japan's emperor and empress were in attendance as the host city welcomed athletes from across Asia. Performances celebrating Japanese culture, music and technology filled the evening before fireworks brought the show to a spectacular close.