Tokyo hosted the first Summer Olympics held in Asia in 1964.
The Tokyo Games marked a major geographic expansion for the Olympics. Before 1964, every Summer Olympics had been staged in Europe, North America, South America or Australia. Tokyo therefore became the first Asian city to host the event.
Japan used the Games to display its postwar reconstruction and technological development. New venues, transport systems and communications infrastructure were built or modernized, and the event was widely viewed as a symbol of Japan’s return to the international community after the Second World War.
Tokyo had originally been awarded the 1940 Olympics, but those Games were cancelled because of World War II. The 1964 edition was held successfully, and Tokyo later became the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics twice when it staged the 2020 Games, held in 2021.