One of the Nagano Games' three goals under its theme of "Games from the Heart--Together with Love" is to promote the participation of children. (The other two are to host a festival of peace and friendship and to pay homage to nature.) To achieve this goal, special measures have been taken to encourage youngsters to participate in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and other events. In addition, organizers have come up to two new ideas in the area of ticket sales.

The first is setting aside 100,000 of the 710,000 tickets that will go on sale in Japan for children. Many of these will be used by schoolchildren in Nagano Prefecture, who'll attend Olympic events on school-sponsored excursions. Their cheers should fill the stadiums and other venues during Olympic competition.

The second is making children's tickets available at half-price. Such tickets may be used by those attending elementary and middle school, as well as preschoolers and students attending special schools for the handicapped. Discount tickets for children were offered at the Lillehammer Games in 1994, but they were limited to standing room at outdoor events. The Nagano offering is the first at either the Winter or Summer Games where children can enter all events at a discount.