1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo

Yoyogi National Stadium –

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10 to 24, 1964. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia.

Yoyogi National Stadium was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and diving events in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium (駒沢オリンピック公園総合運動場陸上競技場) is a multi-purpose stadium in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium holds 20,010 people and  hosted some of the football preliminaries for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Yoshinori Sakai lights the Olympic cauldron (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yoshinori Sakai, who lit the Olympic Flame, was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day an atomic bomb was dropped on that city. He was chosen for the role to symbolize Japan’s postwar reconstruction and peace. At the time he was a member of Waseda University’s running club.