PLEASE KILL THE FORMER ONE I'VE JUST SENT AND USE THIS ONE!!!! (MAKOTO USHIDA)

Under an unprecedented heavy police security, the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympics took place in Nagano, Japan, on Saturday, through more than 4,000 Chinese people mobilized by Chinese authorities and via the Internet.

The city of Nagano, home to 1998 Winter Olympics, became like a big Chinatown today with thousands of red Chinese flags billowing almost everywhere along the route of the 18.7-kilometer torch relay.

Nagano, a peaceful city centered by the famous Zenkoji Temple, was packed and dominated by boisterous pro-Beijing activists.  No wonder the Zenkoji Temple declined to become the start point of the relay--that was from its religious concern over China's crackdown in Tibet.

Along the route, there were pro-Tibet activists hoisting Tibetan flags, but they were again a miserable minority here--once they chanted ''Free Tibet! Shame on China!'' slogans, pro-Beijing activists mobbed them and silenced them.

Even Japanese police treated the Chinese activists as if they are important, special gueststhey were allowed free access to most important areas of the torch relay, such as the starting pointthat was changed to a parking lot after the Zenkoji Temple had declined, and the goal of the route.

But those who were not hoisting the red Chinese flag had no chance of making access to those places, even including Nagano citizens!!  Those who carried Tibetan flags were treated by police as troublemakers, and were ousted from those areas.

Nagano citizens vented frustration to Chinese authorities that had mobilized all those pro-Beijing activists, Japanese police that overreacted to every move of innocent citizens, and to the fact that they couldn't see the torch--because about a hundred riot police officers ran together with the torchbearers to make walls that separated the torch and the viewers!

What a silly event!!

The torch left Japan right after the Nagano relay for the next stop: Seoul.

Photo1,2,3,5: Look at this heavy police security! We could barely to see the torch.

Photo4: Where's the torchbearer? On the left!

Photo6,7: Chinese activists chanting pro-Beijing slogans.

Photo8: Pro-Tibetan activists were immediately surrounded by Chinese activists.

(author: MAKOTO USHIDA, a Japanese journalist based in Tokyo.)