Australia softball team first to arrive in Tokyo for Olympics - in pictures

'Aussie Spirit' arrival in Japan offered a taste of the strict biosecurity measures that the Games will entail

Members of Australia's Olympic softball squad including Jade Wall, arrive in Tokyo for a pre-Olympic training camp. Reuters

Staff help to load luggage of Australia's Olympic softball squad on to a bus upon their arrival at Narita international airport. Reuters

Australian softball national team players wait to take the quantitative antigen test after arriving at Narita Airport in Chiba prefecture, Japan. Reuters

Australian women's softball team members arrive at Narita Airport in Narita, Japan. The Australian women's softball team is the first squad to arrive in Japan some 50 days before the Tokyo Olympics for a training camp in Ota. EPA

Australian women's softball team members arrive at Narita Airport in Narita, Japan. EPA

Australian softball national team players arrive at their hotel in Ota City, Gunma prefecture. AFP

Australian softball national team players arrive at their hotel in Ota City, Gunma prefecture. AFP

A member of the Australian softball national team takes a picture from a limousine bus upon arriving at a hotel in Ota City, Gunma prefecture. AFP

Hotel staff greet the Australian softball national team with the Australian national flag at a hotel in Ota City, Gunma prefecture. AFP

A limousine bus carrying the Australian softball national team arrives at a hotel in Ota City. AFP

Australian softball national team players arrive at their hotel in Ota City. AFP

Members of Australia's Olympic softball team wave upon their arrival at a hotel in Ota, Gunma Prefecture. Reuters

Australia's softball team became the first athletes to arrive in Japan for the Olympics on Tuesday, in a major step forward for the pandemic-postponed Games as organisers battle coronavirus fears.

The arrival offered a taste of the strict biosecurity measures that the Games will entail. All members of the delegation are vaccinated, but they still had to be tested before travel and on arrival.

They filed off the plane, sporting masks, escorted by greeters wearing hats featuring the Olympic and Paralympic mascots.

Rows of chairs were set up for them in an airport corridor, where they filled out paperwork as staff in plastic aprons, masks and protective glasses came round to check the documents.

But the mood was still celebratory and the arrival is likely to be a boost for the organisers as they tackle persistent doubts about the Games.

Three hours after landing, an official confirmed the group had all tested negative and they left for their training camp in Ota City, around 100 kilometres north of Tokyo.

They will face strict rules while in the city, with no family members allowed to join them and the delegation confined to one floor of their hotel.

In a statement, coach Robert Harrow said the team, nicknamed Aussie Spirit, would be respectful of residents and "fall in line with the rules applied to us during our stay to keep everyone safe".

"We will be focused purely on our training during our time in camp," he added.