This Summer has not been a walk in the park if I may use that idiom. With oppressive heat, wildfires, floods and other assortments of climatic and biotic upheavals, many wish Fall was here.
One must as well include the variants of COVID which never seem to pause in their onslaughts on this planet traversing the cosmos. Just when normalcy is on the horizon the Cimmerian cloud of COVID chases it away from view.
Since the Summer Games are in progress:
Let’s return to 1964 when the Games of the XVIII Olympiad were moved from the Summer to the Fall in Japan. The reason was simple: with the oppressive heat and unbearable humidity the Olympians’ health and endurance were taken into account.
The Olympians’ well-being should always be the first priority. Everything else should be secondary.
Another reason was the climatic reality of the typhoon season which began in September. Cyclonic conditions would not benefit the Olympians and the spectators.
So the Summer Games of 1964 were held October 10-24. It was the first time that the Games were held in Asia.
A bit of history: Japan was scheduled to host the Games in 1940. However, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937 which caused Japan to drop its hosting of the Games as the war with China intensified.
When Japan won the hosting of the Summer Games in 1958, it was on the first vote of IOC. As always, there were those both at home and aboard who had serious reservations about Japan hosting the Games.
Less than two decades since World War II ended, Japan was still recovering emotionally, mentally and physically from the devastation of the Allies’ bombs and occupation. The Japanese government and people worked together to modernize the various venues for the different Olympic events to be ready for the influx of thousands, but there were controversial decisions in this modernization which will be discussed in next week’s post.
The 1964 Games had some firsts. With the advancement in satellite relays, the Games were broadcast live and in color for the whole world—truly a global event of technological significance.
Two new Olympic events were added at the insistence of Japan—judo (4 classes) and women’s volleyball. One may gasp today that women’s volleyball was such a late arrival at the Games, but keep in mind the times and the men who controlled sports.
Japan had good reasons for these two sports to be added. They hoped for five gold medals from these events.
Their women’s volleyball team referred to as “Oriental Witches” was a formidable foe on the world stage. On October 23 they played against their archrival the Soviet Union, and after a grueling game the Oriental Witches took the game and the gold.
Their story and history is worth pursuing. See the links below.
In judo Japan took three of the four classes to win the gold. The judo weight class was won by Antonius Johannes Geesink, a 30-year old Dutchman who was the judo reigning champion.
One of the most emotional moments was on October 10. A student from Waseda University carried the torch to light the cauldron to signal that the Games had officially begun, but this was not just a typical student.
His name was Yoshinori Sakai. He was born August 6, 1945 near Hiroshima.
August 6, 1945 was the day that the USA’s Enola Gay B-29 aircraft dropped “Little Boy” on the city. The first of two atomic bombs to be used in war.
From the bitterness of war a baby born on a horrific day of atomic ashes and hellfire would carry a torch of peace to remind the world that peace should never be an afterthought in the inner circles where war plans are made and given to the young to carry arms into conflict. It is the innocents, especially women and children, who suffer the most in war with its lingering aspects and effects.
The 1964 October Games had 93 nations participating. There were 678 women in comparison to 4,473 men
Japan took 29 medals (16 gold, 5 silver and 8 Bronze). The Soviet Union had the most medals—96 (30 gold, 31 silver and 35 bronze), and the USA had 90 (36 gold, 26 silver and 28 bronze).
The Games are supposed to be apolitical, but the realities of governments are always there in the shadows. North Korea, China and Indonesia chose not to send athletes.
What will history have to say about the 2021 Summer Games? Perhaps, in the time of COVID the bravery of the select few will be remembered as a testament of the human spirit to strive against a nefarious nemesis who refuses to abate its dominance.
G. D. Williams © 2021
POST 902
Tokyo Women’s Volleyball 1964
Tokyo 1964 Women’s Volleyball – The Oriental Witches (olympics.com)
Yoshinori Sakai (August 6, 1945–September 10, 2014)
About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource | Lighting the Olympic Flame, 1964 Tokyo Olympics | Japan Society
Yoshinori Sakai – The Olympians
Wearing a white singlet with the rising sun emblem on his chest, he held the torch high in his right hand, faced the cauldron and lowered the flame to set off a ball of fire that signaled Tokyo’s 1964 Olympics were set to begin — and Japan was back from the ashes of World War II.
Saka, though a world-class runner, never competed in the Olympics. But he is forever immortalized in thousands of photos of him carrying the torch, and a color one on the cover of the U.S. magazine Sports Illustrated.
Man born in Hiroshima lights 1964 Tokyo Olympic cauldron – ABC News (go.com)
Kyodo News / Getty Image
1964 OLYMPICS
The first official Fair Play Trophy for setting an outstanding example of sportsmanship was awarded to Swedish yachtsmen Lars Gunnar Käll and Stig Lennart Käll. The Swedes gave up their race to come to the aid of two other competitors whose boat had sunk and saved their lives.
https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/tokyo-1964
The last time Japan hosted a Summer Olympics was in 1964 and at the time, they were seen as an important symbol for the country’s rehabilitation and rebuilding process after World War Two.
“Japan has seen economic stagnation for a long time, there has been the tsunami and the nuclear disaster of Fukushima, so the Games would been as symbolic of a revival of Japan. It does take a special importance in that sense.” Professor Jack Anderson, University of Melbourne
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57097853
“Tokyo was chosen to host the 1964 Olympics in 1959, just 14 years after the end of the war. We were much poorer then than we are today. But Japanese back then were passionate about hosting the Olympics in Tokyo, and that passion fueled the success of the games.” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-JRTB-14858
Although public opinion had initially been split on the Olympics, by the time they actually began, almost everyone was solidly behind them. The broadcast of the Opening Ceremony garnered over 70% of the viewing public and the women’s volleyball team’s gold medal match against their archrivals, the Soviets, was over 80%. Given that schools, private after school cram schools and some towns set up communal televisions (especially the new color ones), the actual viewership was undoubtedly higher.
The 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics were Japan’s chance to show the world they had rebuilt and were now a peaceful partner in the world, while also announcing their status as a first world economic power and technological leader.
https://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/japans_rebirth_at_the_1964_tokyo_summer
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