1964 Tokyo Olympics Newsreel

Here is a newsreel of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics from the Internet Archives by Universal Newsreels.

Wikipedia says of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics:

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport eventheld in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with 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 début.) These games were also 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.



This Olympic Game was a watershed moment for Japan as the Japanese consider this the turning point for Japan into becoming a modern western nation and economic powerhouse. The games were the spark for most of the average Japanese to buy their first TV set.

With the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, consumerism had arrived in Japan.

It was also the last Olympics that Japan did well in medal count in and they came in third after the USA and the Soviet Union! (Note that Western Germany was 4th!)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	36	26	28	90
2	Soviet Union	30	31	35	96
3	Japan	16	5	8	29
4	Germany	10	22	18	50
5	Italy	10	10	7	27
6	Hungary	10	7	5	22
7	Poland	7	6	10	23
8	Australia	6	2	10	18
9	Czechoslovakia	5	6	3	14
10	Great Britain	4	12	2	18