The 1964 Tokyo Olympics had a profound impact on the capital city and the nation. In the fourth installment of a five-part series running this month, best-selling author Robert Whiting, who lived in Japan at the time, examines the symbolism of Japan¡¯s gold medal-winning women¡¯s volleyball team.
It was left to the maniacally trained, and wonderfully adept, Japan national women¡¯s volleyball team to salvage the nation¡¯s pride. Its gold medal victory on the final evening of 1964 Tokyo Olympics competition at the 4,000-seat Komazawa Gymnasium would go down in Japanese sporting lore as one of the top 10 great sporting achievements of the 20th century, reaching No. 5 on a list compiled by the Asahi Shimbun at the end of 1999.
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