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What you need to know:CityLab’s Coverage of Tokyo
The Yoyogi National Stadium, with its unique roof design, was built for the 1964 Olympics. 

The Yoyogi National Stadium, with its unique roof design, was built for the 1964 Olympics. 

Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg

CityLab
Design

How the 1964 Olympic Games Changed Tokyo Forever

Officials seized their chance to turn a war-scarred city into a modern metropolis.

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Even as this year’s Olympics draw nearer, the Tokyo Games of 1964 remain a not-so-distant memory for the city’s residents. From the iconic bullet train to the snaking Metropolitan Expressway and the expanses of Yoyogi Park, the games’ legacy is all around.

These ambitious projects captured the spirit of their age, the urban planning component of an unprecedented regeneration effort. In much the same way, more modest preparations for Tokyo 2020 (the name stuck despite postponement due to the pandemic) are a reflection of their economic times.

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