The Olympic Games have always marked points of entry and reentry for the Japanese people. A closed society until 1868, with martial arts the only activity resembling sports as we now define them, Japan looked to its participation in the 1912 Olympics Games in Stockholm as a way of introducing itself to the modern world. Later, by hosting the 1964 Summer Games, Japan reintroduced itself in its post-war form. And in 2020, the original, pre-COVID idea was for Japan to showcase its recovery from the 2011 earthquake/tsunami/Fukushima nuclear disaster with the Tokyo Games.
"The history of Japan and the Games, and how it has always been used to showcase the country to the world -- that's always been a driving force," says Ema Ryan Yamazaki, a documentary filmmaker who was chosen to be one of the directors for the official International Olympic Committee Tokyo 2020 film.