The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event

Multi-sport event

A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...

 held in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics

1940 Summer Olympics

The anticipated 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad and originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo, Japan, were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II...

, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 because of Japan's invasion of China

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

, before ultimately being canceled because of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports.

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event

Multi-sport event

A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...

 held in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics

1940 Summer Olympics

The anticipated 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad and originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo, Japan, were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II...

, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 because of Japan's invasion of China

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

, before ultimately being canceled because of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports. (South Africa was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics

1964 Summer Paralympics

The 1964 Summer Paralympics, originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games, were the 2nd Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Tokyo, Japan, they were the last Summer Paralympics to take place in the same city as the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Summer Paralympics...

, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games début

South Africa at the 1964 Summer Paralympics

South Africa made its Paralympic Games début at the 1964 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan.It sent nine athletes to compete in archery, athletics, swimming and weightlifting. They finished sixth on the medal table with nineteen medals, of which eight gold. Paradoxically, South Africa thus began to...

.)
These games were also the first to be telecast internationally. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom

Syncom

Syncom started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by Hughes Space and Communications...

 3, the first geostationary

Geostationary orbit

A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...

 communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1.

Host city selection

Tokyo won the rights to the Games on May 26, 1959, at the 55th IOC Session in Munich, West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

, over bids from Detroit, Brussels and Vienna.

1964 Summer Olympics bidding result
City	Country	Round 1
Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...	Japan	34
Detroit	United States	10
Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...	Austria	9
Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...	Belgium	5

Highlights

• Yūji Koseki
  Yuji Koseki
  was a Japanese ryūkōka, gunka, march, fight song and film score composer. His real name was also Yuji Koseki, but its kanji was 古關 勇治.Koseki entered Nippon Columbia in 1930. He composed Hanshin Tigers' song "Rokko Oroshi" in 1936. His famous military song titled was released in 1937. Famous songs...
  
   composed the theme song of the opening ceremony.
• Yoshinori Sakai
  Yoshinori Sakai
  was the Olympic flame torchbearer who lit the cauldron at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.He was chosen for the role to symbolize Japan's postwar reconstruction and peace...
  
  , who lit the Olympic Flame
  Olympic Flame
  The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
  
  , was born in Hiroshima
  Hiroshima
  is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
  
   on August 6, 1945, the day an atomic bomb was dropped on that city.
• Judo
  Judo
  is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
  
   and women's volleyball, both popular sports in Japan, were introduced to the Olympics. Japan won gold medals in three judo events, but Dutchman Anton Geesink
  Anton Geesink
  Antonius "Anton" Johannes Geesink was a Dutch 10th-dan judoka from Utrecht. He was a three-time World Judo Champion , Olympic Gold Medalist and won 21 European championships...
  
   won the Open category. The Japanese women's volleyball team
  Japan women's national volleyball team
  The Japan women's national volleyball team, or All-Japan women's volleyball team, is the volleyball national team of Japan, currently ranked 3rd by the FIVB...
  
   won the gold medal, with the final being broadcast live.
• The women's pentathlon
  Women's pentathlon
  The pentathlon is a sports contest made up of five events . The women's pentathlon was contested in the Olympics from 1964 until 1980, and it was replaced in the 1984 Games with the heptathlon. It had a different set of events than the ancient Olympic pentathlon...
  
   (shot put
  Shot put
  The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
  
  , high jump
  High jump
  The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
  
  , hurdling
  Hurdling
  Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...
  
  , sprint and long jump
  Long jump
  The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
  
  ) was introduced to the athletics events.
• Reigning world champion Osamu Watanabe
  Osamu Watanabe
  is a Japanese Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. Born in 1940, he attended Chuo University during a time when they were viewed as one of Japan's dominant collegiate wrestling programs....
  
   capped off his career with a gold medal for Japan in freestyle wrestling, surrendering no points and retiring from competition as the only undefeated Olympic champion to date at 189–0.
• Soviet
  USSR at the Summer Olympics
  The Soviet Union first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and competed at the Games on 18 occasions since then. At seven of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympic Games, the team ranked first in the total number of medals won, it was second by this count on the other two...
  
   gymnast Larisa Latynina won two gold medals (both for the third time in a row in Team Competition and Floor Exercise events), a silver medal and two bronze medals. She ended her Olympic career and holds the record for most Olympic medals at 18 (9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze) since then.
• Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser
  Dawn Fraser
  Dawn Fraser AO, MBE is an Australian champion swimmer. She is one of only two swimmers to win the same Olympic event three times – in her case the 100 meters freestyle....
  
   won the 100 m freestyle event for the third time in a row, a feat matched by Vyacheslav Ivanov
  Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Ivanov
  Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Ivanov is known to most of the non-Russian speaking world as Vyacheslav Ivanov, was one of the most accomplished rowers of his generation...
  
   in rowing
  Sport rowing
  Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
  
  's single scull event.
• Don Schollander
  Don Schollander
  Donald Arthur Schollander is a former Olympic swimmer for the United States. He won total of five gold medals and one silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics...
  
   (USA) won four gold medals in swimming.
• Abebe Bikila
  Abebe Bikila
  Abebe Bikila was a two-time Olympic marathon champion from Ethiopia. A stadium in Addis Ababa is named in his honor.-1932–1959:...
  
   became the first person to win the Olympic marathon twice.
• New Zealand's Peter Snell
  Peter Snell
  Sir Peter George Snell, KNZM, MBE is a former New Zealand athlete, now resident in Texas, United States. He had one of the shortest careers of world famous international sportsmen, yet achieved so much that he was voted New Zealand’s "Sports Champion of the Century"...
  
   won a gold medal in both the 800 m and 1500 m.
• American Billy Mills
  Billy Mills
  William Mervin Mills or "Billy" Mills, also known as Makata Taka Hela , is the second Native American to win an Olympic gold medal....
  
  , a little-known distance runner, shocked everyone when he won the gold in the men's 10,000 m. No American had won it before and no American has won it since.
• Bob Hayes
  Bob Hayes
  Robert Lee "Bullet Bob" Hayes was an Olympic sprinter turned American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. An American track and field athlete, he was a two-sport stand-out in college in both track and football at Florida A&M University...
  
   won the 100 m title in a time of 10.0 seconds, equaling the world record. He had run the distance in 9.9 seconds in the semifinal but this was not recognized as a world record as it was wind assisted. He went on to win a Super Bowl ring as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Joe Frazier
  Joe Frazier
  Joseph William "Joe" Frazier , also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981....
  
  , future heavyweight champion of the world, won a gold medal for the USA in heavyweight boxing.
• This was the last Summer Olympics to use a cinder running track for athletic events, and the first to use fiberglass poles for pole vaulting.
• Unfortunately for Japan, several big international events also took attention during the Olympics, including the sudden removal of Nikita Khrushchev
  Nikita Khrushchev
  Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
  
   and the first nuclear test
  596 (nuclear test)
  596 is the codename of the People's Republic of China's first nuclear weapons test, detonated on October 16, 1964 at the Lop Nur test site. It was a uranium-235 implosion fission device and had a yield of 22 kilotons...
  
   in China.
• The nation of Malaysia, which had formed the previous year by a union of Malaya
  Federation of Malaya
  The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
  
  , British North Borneo and Singapore, competed for the first time in the Games.
• The US men's swimming team won all but three gold medals (7 out of 10).

Sports

Athletics Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the athletics competition included 36 events, 24 for men and 12 for women. The women's 400 metres and women's pentathlon events were newly introduced at these Games. There were a total number of 1016 participating athletes from 82 countries.-Men's... Basketball Basketball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball contests at the 1964 Summer Olympics took place at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan from October 11 to October 23. The United States defeated the Soviet Union to win their sixth straight gold medal at this event, while Brazil earned the bronze against Puerto... Boxing Boxing at the 1964 Summer Olympics Final results for the Boxing competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics:It was held October 11 to 23.-Medal table:-Medal summary:Final results for the Boxing competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics:It was held October 11 to 23.... Canoeing Canoeing at the 1964 Summer Olympics Canoeing at the 1964 Summer Olympics was held between 20 October 1964 and 22 October 1964 on Lake Sagami, from Sagamiko, Kanagawa, Japan. There were 7 events, 5 of which were for men and 2 for women. Both of the women's events were 500 metre kayaking events; there were three kayaking and two... Cycling Cycling at the 1964 Summer Olympics The cycling competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and five track cycling events, all for men only. The 4000m individual pursuit event was introduced at these Games.-Medal table:-Medal summary:-References:*... Diving Diving at the 1964 Summer Olympics At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, four diving events were contested during a competition that took place at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, from 11 to 18 October, comprising 82 divers from 21 nations.-Medal summary:... Equestrian Equestrian at the 1964 Summer Olympics The Equestrian Events at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo included Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from October 16, 1964 to October 24, 1964...

Fencing Fencing at the 1964 Summer Olympics At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, eight events in fencing were contested. Men competed in both individual and team events for each of the three weapon types , but women competed only in foil events.-Medal summary:... Football (soccer) Football at the 1964 Summer Olympics The football competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics started on October 11 and ended on October 23. Only one event, the men's tournament, was contested... Gymnastics Gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics At the 1964 Summer Olympics, fourteen different artistic gymnastics events were contested, eight for men and six for women. All events were held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo from October 18 through October 23.... Hockey Judo Judo at the 1964 Summer Olympics The judo competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics was the first time the sport was included in the Summer Olympic Games. Medals were awarded in 4 classes, and competition was restricted to men only. The competition was held in the Nippon Budokan, which was built to host the competition... Modern pentathlon Modern pentathlon at the 1964 Summer Olympics The modern pentathlon at the 1964 Summer Olympics was represented by two events : Individual competition and Team competition... Rowing Rowing at the 1964 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1964 Summer Olympics featured 7 events, for men only.Vyacheslav Ivanov from the Soviet Union took his third consecutive gold medal in single scull event.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...

Sailing (yachting) Sailing at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens Greece. With the exception of 1904... Shooting Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics Shooting at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo comprised six events.-Medal count:-Medalists by event:-References:*... Swimming Swimming at the 1964 Summer Olympics At the 1964 Summer Olympics, eighteen swimming events were contested, ten for men and eight for women. There was a total of 405 participants from 42 countries competing... Volleyball Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was represented by two events: men's team and women's team.-Medal table:-Medal summary:-External links:*... Water polo Water polo at the 1964 Summer Olympics Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1964 Summer Olympics:FIRST ROUNDGroup A: Italy,4; Romania,2; Japan,0Group B: USSR,4; Germany,2; Australia,0Group C: Yugoslavia,6; Netherlands,4; USA,2; Brazil,0... Weightlifting Weightlifting at the 1964 Summer Olympics The weightlifting competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo consisted of seven weight classes, all for men only.It also counted as 1964 World Weightlifting Championships.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:... Wrestling Wrestling at the 1964 Summer Olympics At the 1964 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling.- Greco-Roman:-Freestyle:-See also:...

Note: In the Japan Olympic Committee report, sailing is listed as yachting.

Demonstration sports

• Baseball
  Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics
  Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport and consisted of a single game. It was the fifth time that a baseball exhibition had been held, and was the last time that only one game would be played...
  
  
• Budō

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:

1	align=left	|36	26	28	90
2	align=left	|30	31	35	96
3	align=left	|16	5	8	29
4	align=left	|10	22	18	50
5	align=left	|10	10	7	27
6	align=left	|10	7	5	22
7	align=left	|7	6	10	23
8	align=left	|6	2	10	18
9	align=left	|5	6	3	14
10	align=left	|4	12	2	18

Conventionally, countries are ranked by the number of gold medals they receive, followed then by the number of silver medals and, finally, bronze.

Participating nations

A total of 94 nations were represented at the 1964 Games. Sixteen nations made their first Olympic appearance in Tokyo: Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire (as Ivory Coast), Dominican Republic, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Northern Rhodesia

Northern Rhodesia

Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...

 (which achieved full independence as Zambia on the same day as the closing ceremony), Senegal, and Tanzania (as Tanganyika). Athletes from Libya withdrew from competition after the Opening Ceremony, so a total of 93 nations actually competed. Athletes from East Germany

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

 and West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 competed together as the United Team of Germany

United Team of Germany

The Unified Team of Germany , competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic...

 from 1956–1964.

Venues

• Asaka Nezu Park
  Asaka, Saitama
  is a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It was named in 1932 after Prince Asaka who was an honorary chairman of the Tokyo Golf Club, which relocated to the area at that time. Asaka town became a city on March 15, 1967....
  
   – Modern pentathlon (riding)
• Asaka Shooting Range
  Asaka Shooting Range
  The Asaka Shooting Range was a firing range constructed for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Constructed in early 1964 in Asaka, Saitama, it hosted the pistol and rifle shooting and the shooting part of the modern pentathlon.-References:...
  
   – Modern pentathlon (shooting), Shooting (pistol/ rifle)
• Chofu City
  Chofu, Tokyo
  is a city located in the western end of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 224,878 and a population density of 10,440 persons per km². The total area was 21.53 km². Tokyo Stadium in Chōfu hosts soccer games for two J. League teams: F.C...
  
   – Athletics (marathon, 50 km walk)
• Enoshima
  Enoshima
  is a small island, about 4 km in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River, which flows into Sagami Bay in Japan. Part of the city of Fujisawa, it is linked to the Katase section of the same city on the mainland by a 600 meter-long bridge...
  
   – Sailing
• Fuchu City
  Fuchu, Tokyo
  is a city located in western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 255,394 and a population density of 8,700 persons per km². The total area was 29.34 km²...
  
   – Athletics (marathon, 50 km walk)
• Hachioji City
  Hachioji, Tokyo
  is a city located in Tokyo, Japan, about 40 kilometers west of the center of the special wards of Tokyo.As of January 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 551,901 and a population density of 2,962.27/km². The total area is 186.31 km². It is the eighth largest city in the...
  
   – Cycling (road)
• Hachioji Velodrome
  Hachioji Velodrome
  was a temporary velodrome located in the Hachiōji, Tokyo area. Constructed between March and August 1964, it hosted the track cycling events for the 1964 Summer Olympics.-References:* Volume 1. Part 1. pp. 132-3....
  
   – Cycling (track)
• Karasuyama-machi
  Setagaya, Tokyo
  is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood within the ward. The ward calls itself the City of Setagaya in English...
  
   – Athletics (marathon, 50 km walk)
• Karuizawa
  Karuizawa, Nagano
  is a town located in Kitasaku District, Nagano, Japan.As of January 1, 2008, the town has an estimated population of 17,833 and has a total area of ....
  
   – Equestrian
• Kemigawa
  University of Tokyo
  , abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
  
   – Modern pentathlon (running)
• Komazawa Gymnasium
  Komazawa Gymnasium
  Komazawa Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Tokyo, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 3,875 spectators. It hosted the wrestling events at the 1964 Summer Olympics.-Reference:* Volume 1. pp. 125-6....
  
   – Wrestling
• Komazawa Hockey Field
  Komazawa Hockey Field
  The Komazawa Hockey Field was a venue constructed in Tokyo, Japan for the field hockey competitions of 1964 Summer Olympics. Even though there were three hockey fields, it marked the first time the field hockey was played in one single venue for the Summer Olympics since the 1920 Games.-Hockey...
  
   – Field hockey
• Komazawa Stadium
  Komazawa Stadium
  Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tokyo, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches . The stadium holds 22,892 people....
  
   – Football preliminaries
• Komazawa Volleyball Courts
  Komazawa Volleyball Courts
  The Komazawa Volleyball Courts are a volleyball venue located in Tokyo, Japan. It hosted some of the volleyball preliminaries for the 1964 Summer Olympics....
  
   – Volleyball preliminaries
• Korakuen Ice Palace
  Korakuen Hall
  is an arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many boxing, professional wrestling and mixed martial arts matches. Part of Tokyo Dome City, it is one of Tokyo's biggest attractions. It opened on April 16, 1962 and has a capacity of approximately 1,800 people. The venue hosted the boxing...
  
   – Boxing
• Lake Sagami
  Lake Sagami
  is an artificial lake located in Midori-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa in Japan's Kantō region. Created in 1947 after the Sagami River was dammed, it serves as use for recreational and hydroelectric purposes...
  
   – Canoeing
• Mitsuzawa Football Field
  Mitsuzawa Stadium
  Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium is a football stadium in Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It serves as a home ground of Yokohama F.C. and, on occasion, Yokohama F. Marinos. Until 1999 it had been the home of Yokohama F.C.'s spiritual predecessor, Yokohama Flügels, and also, on occasion, to Kawasaki-based...
  
   – Football preliminaries
• Nagai Stadium
  Nagai Stadium
  is an athletic stadium in Osaka, Japan. It is the home ground of J. League club Cerezo Osaka. The stadium has a seating capacity of 50,000.-History:...
  
   – Football preliminaries
• National Gymnasium
  Yoyogi National Gymnasium
  is an arena in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan which is famous for its suspension roof design.It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and diving events in the 1964 Summer Olympics. A separate annex was used for the basketball competition at those same games...
  
   – Basketball (final), Diving, Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming
• National Stadium
  Olympic Stadium (Tokyo)
  or National Stadium is a stadium in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan that served as the main stadium for the 1964 Summer Olympics. It currently serves as the stadium where the Japan national football teams home matches and major football club cup finals are held.-History:The stadium was...
  
   – Athletics, Equestrian (team jumping), Football (final)
• Nippon Budokan
  Nippon Budokan
  The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
  
   – Judo
• Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
  Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium
  , or is a multi-purpose stadium in Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of J. League club Kyoto Sanga F.C.The stadium holds 20,242 people and was built in 1942...
  
   – Football preliminaries
• Ōmiya Football Field
  Omiya Park Soccer Stadium
  is a football stadium located in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama city, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is the home stadium of a J.League club Omiya Ardija.Since May 14, 2007 it has been called for the naming rights.-History:...
  
   – Football preliminaries
• Prince Chichiba Memorial Football Field
  Chichibunomiya rugby stadium
  in the Aoyama district of central Tokyo is the spiritual home of Japanese rugby union and the headquarters of the Japan Rugby Football Union.-Facilities:...
  
   – Football preliminaries
• Sasazuka-machi
  Shibuya, Tokyo
  is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
  
   – Athletics (marathon, 50 km walk)
• Shibuya Public Hall
  Shibuya Public Hall
  or is a live theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was completed in 1964. In the 1964 Summer Olympics, the weightlifting events took place there.The theatre was sponsored by Dentsu and Suntory, which paid ¥80 million to have its name associated with the building from 2006 to 2011.-External links:*...
  
   – Weightlifting
• Shinjuku
  Shinjuku, Tokyo
  is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...
  
   – Athletics (marathon, 50 km walk)
• Toda Rowing Course – Rowing
• Tokorozawa Shooting Range
  Tokorozawa Shooting Range
  The Tokorozawa Shooting Range is a firing range located in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. It hosted the trap shooting part of the shooting events for the 1964 Summer Olympics in neighboring Tokyo.-Reference:* Volume 1. Part 1. pp. 138-9....
  
   – Shooting (trap)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
  Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
  is a world-class sporting complex in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1954 for the World Wrestling Championship, it was also used as the venue for gymnastics events at the 1964 Summer Olympics...
  
   – Gymnastics
• Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool
  Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool
  The Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool is an aquatics venue located in Tokyo. It hosted the water polo tournament during the 1964 Summer Olympics.It was constructed initially as the swimming venue for the 1958 Asian Games.-Reference:...
  
   – Water polo
• Waseda Memorial Hall
  Waseda University
  , abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
  
   – Fencing, Modern pentathlon (fencing)
• Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
  Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
  is an indoor sports arena, located in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 5,000 people and was opened in 1962.It is a five minute walk from the closest subway station, Kannai Station, on the JR/Yokohama Municipal Subway....
  
   – Volleyball

Transportation and communications

These games were the first to be telecast internationally. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1, an older satellite which allowed only 15–20 minutes of broadcast during each of its orbits. Total broadcast time of programs delivered via satellite was 5 hours 41 minutes in the United States, 12 hours 27 minutes in Canada, and 14 hours 18 minutes in Europe. Pictures were received via satellite in the United States, Canada, and 21 countries in Europe.

The first trans-Pacific communications cable from Japan to Hawaii was also finished in June 1964 in time for these games. Prior to this, most communications from Japan to other countries was via shortwave.

Although not specifically built for the Tokyo Olympics (it is not mentioned in the official organizing committee report), the start of operations for the first Japanese "bullet train" (the Tokaido Shinkansen) between Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station

is a train station located in the Marunouchi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, near the Imperial Palace grounds and the Ginza commercial district....

 and Shin-Ōsaka Station

Shin-Osaka Station

is a train station in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is the western terminus of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, and the eastern terminus of the Sanyō Shinkansen. The lines are physically joined, and many trains offer through service....

 was scheduled to coincide with the Olympic games. The first regularly scheduled train ran on October 1, 1964, just 9 days before the opening of the games, transporting passengers 515.4 kilometres (320.3 mi) in about 4 hours, and connecting the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

.

Some already planned upgrades to both highways and commuter rail lines were rescheduled for completion in time for these games. Of the 8 main expressways approved by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 1959, No. 1, No. 4 and a portion of No. 2 and No. 3 were completed for the games. Two subway lines totaling 21.9 kilometres (13.6 mi) were also completed in time for the games, and the port of Tokyo facilities were expanded to handle the anticipated traffic.

Legacy

The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo celebrated Japan's progress and reemergence on the world stage. The new Japan was no longer a wartime enemy, but a peaceful country that threatened no one, and this transformation was accomplished in less than 20 years.

To accomplish this, Tokyo's infrastructure needed to be modernized in time for large numbers of expected tourists. Multiple train and subway lines, a large highway building project, and the Tokaido Shinkansen, the fastest train in the world, were completed. Haneda International Airport

Tokyo International Airport

, commonly known as , is one of the two primary airports that serve the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, south of Tokyo Station....

 and the Port of Tokyo

Port of Tokyo

Port of Tokyo is one of the largest Japanese seaports and one of the largest seaports in the Pacific Ocean basin having an annual traffic capacity of around 100 million tonnes of cargo and 4,500,000 TEU's....

 were modernized. International satellite broadcasting was initiated, and Japan was now connected to the world with a new undersea communications cable. The YS-11, a commercial turboprop plane developed in Japan, was used to transport the Olympic Flame within Japan. For swimming, a new timing system started the clock by the sound of the starter gun and stopped it with touchpads. The photo finish using a photograph with lines on it was introduced to determine the results of sprints. All of this demonstrated that Japan was now part of the first world and a technological leader, and at the same time demonstrated how other countries might modernize.

Although public opinion about the Olympics in Japan had initially been split, by the time the games started almost everyone was behind them. The broadcast of the opening ceremony was watched by over 70% of the viewing public, and the women's volleyball team's gold medal match was watched by over 80%.

The Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

 film Walk, Don't Run was filmed during the Tokyo Olympics, and set in Tokyo during the Olympics. A message at the beginning of the film thanks the Japanese Government and Tokyo Police for putting up with them filming in crowded Tokyo.

Tokyo has attempted to bring the Olympic Games back to the city. They recently bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics

2016 Summer Olympics

The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee...

 but lost to Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. Tokyo is currently bidding

Tokyo bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Tokyo 2020 is a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics launched by the city of Tokyo and the Japanese Olympic Committee. The IOC will announce the official candidate cities on May 23, 2012. The winning bid will be announced on September 7, 2013 at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires...

 for the 2020 Summer Olympics

2020 Summer Olympics

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, will be a major international sports and cultural festival, celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games....

.

Gallery

• The Olympics! US Dominates Tokyo Games, 1964/10/15, youtube.com

See also

• Tokyo Olympiad
  Tokyo Olympiad
  Tokyo Olympiad is a 1965 documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Like Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia, which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Ichikawa's film was considered a milestone in documentary filmmaking...
  
  , a documentary film about the games.

External links

• JOC – 東京オリンピック 1964 Japan Olympic Committee official Web site.