Japan hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the first Summer Games held in Asia. Tokyo staged the event from 10 to 24 October 1964, presenting Japan as a rebuilt and technologically advanced nation less than two decades after the Second World War.
The Tokyo Games introduced several important innovations. They were the first Olympics to use computers extensively for results processing, and satellite television helped transmit coverage internationally. The event also featured the debut of judo as an Olympic sport, although the host country did not win the open-category gold medal.
Japan invested heavily in infrastructure before the Games, including new transport links and the Shinkansen high-speed railway. The opening ceremony took place at the newly built National Stadium.
Tokyo had originally been awarded the 1940 Olympics, but those Games were cancelled because of war. The successful 1964 edition therefore carried particular symbolic importance for Japan and for the Olympic movement in Asia.