Universal Newsreels - The Olympic Games - Japan (1964) - video Dailymotion

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00:00Tokyo is dressed in her holiday best for the opening of the 18th Modern Olympics,

00:09the first to be held in the Far East. At the National Stadium, there's a capacity

00:13crowd of 75,000 present for the opening ceremonies that precede 20 different

00:18sports events among athletes from 94 nations. The United States contingent of 330 men and

00:28girls is warmly applauded, and the male members are singled out by their jaunty Western hats.

00:33The Russians follow the U.S. team, their arch rivals in Olympic competition.

00:39There are 5,541 entrants in this year's games, a near record. As the host nation,

00:48the Japanese enter last. The Japanese have spent $2 billion to welcome their guests,

00:53and not a taxpayer has complained, out loud. Then the teams line up on the infield as Emperor

01:02Hirohito declares the games officially open. As the 124th Emperor of Japan welcomes everyone

01:08to the Olympiad, the ringed flag is raised. Then the spotlight shifts to Yoshinori Sakai,

01:20who circles the track carrying the torch that was lit at the Olympic site in Greece,

01:24and drawn here by a relay of thousands of runners. He mounts 154 steps to the pedestal

01:30that holds the Olympic cauldron. Sakai was born 40 miles from Hiroshima on the day the U.S.

01:36dropped the atomic bomb. He might stand as a symbol of peace among nations through friendly

01:41competition, just as the roaring Olympic flame brightens international horizons every four years.

01:508,000 pigeons are released to blacken the sky in majestic flight.

01:53May all nations find greater understanding through sports.