Japan's Naoko Takahashi, who captured the hearts of the nation by winning the women's marathon at the Sydney Olympics last fall, lit the cauldron amid a dazzling laser display at the opening ceremony of the East Asian Games on Saturday.

Takahashi ignited "Tomodachi no Hi," or "Flame of Friendship" at the Osaka Dome to open the nine-day event as roughly 3,000 athletes and officials representing 10 national Olympic committees gather for competition in 15 sports.

Prince Takamado, a nephew of the Emperor, officially declared the games open, and 20 students of the Canadian Academy in Kobe, dressed in the native costumes of each participating country, presented the games flag, which was raised by local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

The delegations of the participating countries appeared from under the main stage to a welcome from the Osaka Dadada-Dan Tenko percussion group and a colorful array of performers.

East Asian Games Association and Japanese Olympic Committee chief Yushiro Yagi, temporarily discharged from the hospital where he is being treated for exhaustion, welcomed the delegations.

He described the games as a "touchstone for athletes hoping to be selected for the 2008 Olympics."

Two-time Olympic judo champion Tadahiro Nomura entered the stadium to rapturous applause, handing the torch to Paralympic silver medalist Kazu Hatanaka, who delivered the torch to Takahashi by wheelchair.

Takahashi, the first Japanese woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics when she won the women's marathon in Sydney, ascended to the cauldron by gondola to light the flame.

The host nation welcomed delegations from Hong Kong, Macao, Guam, Taiwan, Mongolia, Kazakstan, China, South Korea and Australia, who joined the games as an "open participant" and will not be eligible to receive medals.

Competition began with preliminaries in basketball, soccer, volleyball and field hockey, which is one of the two demonstration sports on the schedule.

Japan opened with wins in basketball as the men beat Mongolia 129-68 and the women easily handled Kazakhstan 112-89.

Meanwhile, the Japanese crushed Guam 6-0 in soccer action.