The Tokyo Olympics: 1964 celebrations and 2021 struggles

TOKYO — The last time Tokyo hosted the Summer Games in 1964, some 75,000 people roared with applause to welcome athletes and fans from around the world at the Opening Ceremonies. Parents yanked their children out of the way of the athletes snaking through crowds of fans cheering and waving flags during the torch relay.

But this year, Tokyo looks and feels nothing like those Games — or any other Olympics of the past. There will be no spectators in the Tokyo area. Not even families or friends of the athletes are allowed in. Fewer than 1,000 VIP guests attended Friday’s Opening Ceremonies.

Welcome to the 2021 Pandemic Games.

For the first time, an Olympics was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic that has spread throughout the world. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as it is still branded despite being held in summer 2021, will largely be a virtual and muted affair.

With a summer resurgence of covid cases in Tokyo and the global rise of the delta variant, Olympics officials in early July decided that no ticketed spectators would be allowed at competitions in and around Tokyo.

That means brand-new Olympic venues will remain vacant of fans as athletes compete. Marathon runners and race walkers will compete in silence without any crowds to cheer them on.

Instead of hugging their family members, athletes will videoconference their loved ones after they compete. Fans can click the “Cheer” button on the Olympics virtual-viewing platform — and they can click as many times as they’d like.

The 1964 Tokyo Games were designed to showcase how Japan had re-emerged from its surrender in World War II 20 years earlier, introducing to the world a new Japan of growth, peace and global relevance. It was the first time the Games were held in an Asian country.

“No longer a militarist pariah shattered by war, it had successfully reinvented itself as a peaceful democracy on its way to becoming a world economic powerhouse,” author Robert Whiting wrote in his book, “Tokyo Junkie,” documenting the dramatic transformation of Japan since the 1960s.

Emperor Hirohito kicked off the 1964 Opening Ceremonies with a declaration, followed by fanfare, canons, colorful balloons floating into the sky and a thunderous cheer from the crowd. It was the first Olympic event to be telecast live internationally and in color, Whiting wrote. The event was so emotional and memorable that “Life” magazine described it “the greatest ever.”

Meanwhile, in 2021, Tokyo remains in a pandemic state of emergency. Residents are urged to refrain from large gatherings or staying out at bars past 8 p.m. to minimize the spread of coronavirus. And Japanese public opinion is very mixed, from disappointed former ticket-holders to those who vehemently oppose the Tokyo Games.

The spike in covid cases in the days leading up to the Olympics has raised anxiety among residents, observers and organizers alike about the safety of the Games.

Nonetheless, the Games are now underway, without the roughly 10 million visitors that organizers had initially expected. But some stadiums will still be abuzz: Organizers plan to play audio recordings of crowd sounds from previous Games.

On Friday evening, hundreds of protesters marched through one of the busiest areas in Tokyo, walking toward the opening ceremonies as they called for the Games to be canceled.

Protesters chanted and waved signs as they walked through the main shopping district of Harajuku, blaming Olympic officials for risking public health in exchange for the Games. “Go to hell, IOC!” protesters chanted. “Go to hell, Olympics!”

Meanwhile, just outside the Olympic Stadium, Tokyo residents packed the streets to catch a glimpse of the fireworks and listen to audio seeping out from the ceremonies. As the protesters’ chants and police officers’ warnings rang through the street, the crowd gathered outside the stadium stood quietly — and when the fireworks came, Tokyo residents gasped and cheered.

More from the Post

Tokyo Olympics begin officially with the Opening Ceremonies. Naomi Osaka lights cauldron.

U.S. gymnastics team skips Opening Ceremonies, holds its own private parade instead

Perspective | At Tokyo’s Opening Ceremonies, the celebration begins, but the doors are locked

The latest from The Washington Post

Credits

Project editing by Olivier Laurent, Reem Akkad and Bryan Murphy. Video editing by Alexa Ard.