Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
The first Tokyo Olympics
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July 22, 2021
10 minutes
Available for over a year
The first Olympic Games in Japan were held in 1964, less than 20 years after the country lost the Second World War. The bombed-out centre of Tokyo had been virtually rebuilt following the Allied Occupation, and the Japanese took the opportunity to showcase new technology such as the Bullet Train and colour TV broadcasts. Ashley Byrne talks to wrestling gold medallist, Yojiro Uetake, about his memories of the games. The programme is a Made In Manchester Production.
PHOTO: Japanese student Yoshinori Sakai about to light the Olympic Cauldron in October 1964 (Keystone/Getty Images)