Medal, official commemorative, Tokyo Olympic Games, Japan, 1964

Copper, gilt, official commemorative medal for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, issued by the Japan Athletic Promotion Foundation, made by Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., obverse a torch relay after a Greek vase painting of circa 400 BC in the Louvre, above around the edge "XVIII OLYMPIAD", reverse a view of the National Stadium at the Sendagaya Gate with the Olympic flame and the Olympic rings, below "TOKYO 1964", in white covered case with the emblem of the Games, red sun above the Olympic rings and "TOKYO 1964", lined in red inside, with bilingual certificate on maker and design, D. 60 mm, H. 4 mm, weight 84.2 g.

The 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo were the first to be held in Asia; they marked the return of Japan to the world stage as a modern industrial nation after the Second World War. The Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, flown via Athens, Istanbul, Beirut, Tehran, New Delhi, Rangoon, Bangkok, Manila, Hong Kong and Taipei to Okinawa and carried through Japan on four routes. On 10 October 1964, the day of the opening ceremony, Yoshinori Sakai, born on 6 August 1945 in Hiroshima Prefecture, lit the flame in the National Stadium as the final torchbearer. Official commemorative medals such as this one were issued to participants and officials as well as souvenirs.