1964 Tokyo Olympics

Games of the XVIII Olympiad

Host city

Tokyo, Japan

Nations participating

Athletes participating

5,151
(4,473 men,
678 women)

Events

163 in 19 sports

Opening ceremony

October 10

Closing ceremony

October 24

Summer:

< Rome 1960	Mexico City 1968 >

Winter:

< Innsbruck 1964	Grenoble 1968 >

1964 Summer Olympics
Venues Medal table (medallists) Paralympics
IOC JOC

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad (第十八回オリンピック競技大会, Dai Jūhachi-kai Orinpikku Kyōgi Taikai), was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 10 to 24, 1964. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's invasion of China, before ultimately being canceled because of World War II.

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, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games debut.) Tokyo was chosen as the host city during the 55th IOC Session in West Germany, on May 26, 1959.

These games were also the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be flown overseas, as they had been for the 1960 Olympics four years earlier. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. These were also the first Olympic Games to have color telecasts, albeit partially. Certain events like the sumo wrestling and judo matches, sports huge in Japan, were tried out using Toshiba's new color transmission system, but only for the domestic market. History surrounding the 1964 Olympics was chronicled in the 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa.

...
Wikipedia