This article appeared in The Japan Times in August 2013.

A look back at when Tokyo was awarded the 1964 Olympics

By Ed Odeven

It’s been more than 50 years since Tokyo was awarded the 1964 Summer Olympics, and it was done before several landmark events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.

Consider the following:

■ The IOC’s decision on May 26, 1959, occurred in Munich, West Germany. (East and West Germany reunited decades later, signaling the end of the Cold War.)

■ The decision came more than two years before construction of the Berlin Wall began.

■ The decision happened only a month and a half after slugger Sadaharu Oh made his Yomiuri Giants debut, and before he became a quintessential baseball star.

■ The decision was made five years before the Beatles took the United States by storm and revolutionized rock ‘n’ roll as a…