The futuristic aspects of Tokyo would not come about until the late 1970s onwards, but even during the 1964 Olympics, many of TokyoвЂ™s most popular attractions were firmly in place. We wouldnвЂ™t think of Tokyo as this futuristic marvel if it wasnвЂ™t for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The games were so popular, Life Magazine even proclaimed them the вЂњgreatest Olympics ever held.вЂќ Japan became a heralded tourist destination and the immense infrastructure projects built for the Olympics (trains, hotels, airports) laid the groundwork for the countryвЂ™s transformation into a technological dynamo in the 1980s. The new shinkansen (bullet trains) dazzled visitors while technological innovations like photo finishes and colour broadcasts changed the games themselves. The remarkable urban transformation for the Olympics announced the cityвЂ™s emergence into the present.ДЄ lot of hopes and dreams for the country were relying on the success of the event, and luckily, things turned out well for Japan in the wake of the Olympics. Furthermore, Tokyo was considered something of a backwater. Coming not even 20 years after the end of World War II, the Olympics were an opportunity to redefine Japan on the world stage and transform it from a past enemy combatant into a friendly ally.

A Revitalization at the 1964 Summer OlympicsД«ack in 1964, Tokyo was not what it is today. But it will once again have the opportunity to take the global spotlight and show how it is a city that is endlessly pushing forward into the future. During the 2021 Summer Olympics, Tokyo will no longer have to define itself on the world stage, since it has enjoyed several decades as one of the worldвЂ™s most popular cities. But in the lead up to the Olympics, Japan rebuilt and expanded the city, transforming it into a modern metropolis that was now open to the world. On the eve of the 1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was considered something of a backwater. A lot has changed for Tokyo in the past 56 years.

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