A bullet train passes through Tokyo’s Yurakucho district after the Tokaido Shinkansen Line opened in 1964 to coincide with the Olympics.
Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa) declares the Olympics open at the National Stadium in October 1964. KYODO
Japan’s Yojiro Uetake (right) and Pakistan’s Siraj Din grapple during the third round of freestyle wrestling preliminaries on Oct. 12, 1964.
Gymnast Boris Chakhlin of the Soviet Union stretches out as he prepares to vault over the long horse on Oct. 19, 1964.
The Oct. 11, 1964, edition of The Japan Times trumpets the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics.
An Olympic torchbearer passes Peace Tower in Miyazaki in September 1964 in the lead-up to the Summer Games. KYODO
Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia wins the Olympic marathon at the National Stadium on Oct. 21, 1964. KYODO
Poland’s Ledwig Jozefa spikes the ball against Japan during a women’s volleyball match on Oct. 18, 1964.
Air Self-Defense Force jets draw the Olympic emblem over the National Stadium on Oct. 10, 1964.
Bulgarian athletes Nikolai Prodanov and Diana Yorgova get married in the Olympic Village at Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park on Oct. 23, 1964. The world’s first wedding at an athletes village was conducted in traditional Japanese style by a Shinto priest. KYODO
Featherweight weightlifter Yoshinobu Miyake (center) celebrates winning Japan’s first gold medal of the 1964 Games. He is flanked by Issac Berger of the U.S. (left) and Poland’s Mieczyslaw Nowak.
Weightlifter Leonid Zhabotinsky of the Soviet Union jerks 217.5 kilograms to win gold in the heavyweight division on Oct. 18, 1964.
