Several Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users have posted a video clip that shows exquisite fireworks. The claim suggests this is from the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which could not be held due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Japan decided to do the show under Mount Fuji,” reads the viral message.

The video below posted by Twitter account @MiguelCalabria3 was viewed over 3,000 times.

Facebook page IGrow RSA posted a 3-minute version of the same video and wrote, “The Olympics cannot be opened because of the epidemic, but these fireworks cannot be stored until 2021, so the Olympic fireworks are displayed at this time.” This video has been shared over 12,000 times and viewed over 4 lakh times.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a keyword search on YouTube and found that the viral video was uploaded by the channel hiramu55bocaboca in 2015 and has over 3 million views. The tune playing in the background is ‘William Tell Overture’ by Gioachino Rossini.

The title of 2015 video reads, ‘FWsim Mount Fuji Synchronized Fireworks Show2’. FWsim is a fireworks simulator tool. Some of the features on the official website state, “create firework displays with your favourite music; build your own firework effects, or choose from a huge effects library; 3D worlds with realistic lighting and video export in 4K resolution with shadows and smoke simulation.” While FWsim is a paid software, a free trial is also available.

Moreover, as per the official Olympics website, the Tokyo 2020 games will take place next year after they were rescheduled due to COVID19. In March, the official account of The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games tweeted, “The Olympic Games #Tokyo2020 will be held from 23 July until 8 August 2021.”

This video was earlier fact-checked by American fact-checking website Snopes on August 18.

Thus the viral video doesn’t show fireworks at all. It’s a simulation created using computer software. The claim that it shows fireworks set off for Tokyo 2020 Olympics is false.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people contribute towards the same. Please consider donating in support of this endeavour to fight misinformation and disinformation.

Donate Now

To make an instant donation, click on the "Donate Now" button above. For information regarding donation via Bank Transfer/Cheque/DD, click here.
About the Author

Archit is a fact-checking journalist at Alt News since November 2019. Previously, he has worked as a producer at a TV news channel and as a reporter at a leading English-language daily. In addition to work experience in media, he has also worked as a fundraising and communication manager at an NGO.
https://www.altnews.in/simulation-video-viral-as-fireworks-set-off-for-tokyo-2020-olympic-games/
www.altnews.in
crawl=CC-MAIN-2021-39
114264
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:CKMHTICXCHVZJY5LBIMICJS4RIZAZUSK
<urn:uuid:2bb13cf4-227e-4393-8335-1f7dd491a37b>
2021-09-17T06:32:59Z
139.162.63.58
text/html
sha1:EE4LH4JUX4DTWOFQ6G22G5JR4EA5SB67
<urn:uuid:a9995e6c-b1c9-4840-b4bf-e7696236bd94>
https://www.altnews.in/simulation-video-viral-as-fireworks-set-off-for-tokyo-2020-olympic-games/
response
<urn:uuid:90a48f36-376a-4984-b6cc-7df0a434b86c>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-39
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2021
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-142
software: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/