Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday commended the completion of the National Stadium built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
This was at an inauguration ceremony at the Kengo Kuma-designed venue.
He praised the efforts to finish on schedule after an early setback.
The change meant construction did not begin until December 2016 and the stadium was unable to host matches at this year’s Rugby World Cup as originally planned.
The stadium, built at a cost of $1.44 billion, will have a capacity of 68,000 when it hosts the Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 24.
It will stage athletics and soccer events at the Games as well as the closing ceremony.
Sunday’s ceremony was restricted to a small number of officials and a public event celebrating the stadium’s opening will be held on Dec. 21.
