View source for 1940 Summer Olympics

{{Short description|Cancelled multi-sport event}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox Olympic games|1940|Summer|Olympics|
| image       = Poster Olympische Sommerspiele Tokio 1940.jpg
| image_size  = 140
| caption     = Poster for the 1940 Games, when they were scheduled to be held in Tokyo
| host_city   = [[Tokyo City]], Japan<br />[[Helsinki]], Finland
| stadium     = [[Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium]]<br />[[Helsinki Olympic Stadium|Helsingin Olympiastadion]]
| summer_prev = [[1936 Summer Olympics|Berlin 1936]]
| summer_next = [[1948 Summer Olympics|London 1948]] →<br />{{coloredlink|gray|1944 Summer Olympics|London 1944}}
| winter_prev = [[1936 Winter Olympics|Garmisch 1936]]<br />← {{coloredlink|gray|1940 Winter Olympics|Sapporo 1940}}
| winter_next = [[1948 Winter Olympics|St. Moritz 1948]] →<br />{{coloredlink|gray|1944 Winter Olympics|Cortina 1944}}
}}

The '''1940 [[Summer Olympics]]''', officially known as the '''Games of the XII Olympiad''', was a planned international [[multi-sport event]] scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in [[Tokyo City]], Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July to 4 August 1940, in [[Helsinki]], Finland following the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] in 1937. They were ultimately cancelled because of [[World War II]] alongside the [[1940 Winter Olympics]] in [[Sapporo]], Japan, and were the third games to be cancelled due to war.

Helsinki would eventually host the [[1952 Summer Olympics]]. Tokyo would also later host the [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964]] and [[2020 Summer Olympics]], the latter being postponed to 2021 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].

==1940 Tokyo Olympics (canceled)==
The campaign to choose a city for 1940 began in 1932, with [[Barcelona]], [[Rome]], [[Helsinki]], and Tokyo participating. Tokyo city officials suggested a campaign as a means of international diplomacy following Japan's alienation from the [[League of Nations]] due to the [[Mukden Incident]], in which Japan occupied Manchuria and created the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]].

While both Tokyo officials and [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) representatives were behind the campaign, the national government, which was ever more interested in military matters, did not have any strong supporters for such a diplomatic gesture.<ref>Sandra Collins. ''The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics: Japan, the Asian Olympics and the Olympic Movement''. p. 51</ref> In 1936, Tokyo was chosen in a surprise move, making it the first non-Western city to win an Olympic bid.

===1930s Japan and international sports===
During the [[1930 Far Eastern Games]] in Tokyo, Indian participants were spotted flying the flag of their independence movement rather than the [[Flag of India#History|flag of British India]]. This caused a complaint from the [[British Olympic Association]]. In 1934, Japan attempted to invite European colonies to the [[Far Eastern Games]].<ref>[http://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/limedio/dlam/M74/M744147/6.pdf Historical Significance of the Far Eastern Championship Games]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Tsukuba University</ref>

===Planning===
[[File:Twelfth Tokyo Olympics (1940 Summer Olympics) souvenir handflag, 1936 AD - Edo-Tokyo Museum - Sumida, Tokyo, Japan - DSC06952.jpg|thumb|right|Souvenir flag (1936)]]
The main stadium was initially to be the [[Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium]] — later used at the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] — reconstructed to accommodate 100,000 spectators; however, the Shrines Bureau of [[Home Ministry]], which had jurisdiction over the [[Meiji Shrine|Meiji Jingu]] precinct, strongly opposed the reconstruction. Subsequently, a new stadium was planned at the [[Komazawa Olympic Park]], away from the city center. The Olympic Village was to be built on the present sites of [[Kinuta Park]] or Todoroki Gorge. A schedule was drawn up, and guidelines were printed in four languages. Monthly magazines and posters were printed and distributed internationally. Construction began on some buildings, and arrangements were made with hotels, travel agents, and airlines for easy access.<ref name="la84">{{cite web |url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1940/OR1940.pdf |title=Report of the Organizing Committee on Its Work for the Xiith Olympic Games of 1940 in Tokyo Until the Relinquishment |access-date=12 March 2014 |archive-date=5 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305120632/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1940/OR1940.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Forfeiture of Games===
When the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] broke out on 7 July 1937, [[Ichirō Kōno]], a member of the [[Imperial Diet (Japan)|Imperial Diet]] (legislature), immediately requested that the Olympics be forfeited.<ref>Sandra Collins. ''The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics: Japan, the Asian Olympics and the Olympic Movement''. p. 144</ref> The [[1938 Far Eastern Games]] were also canceled, but Japan's IOC delegates persisted under a belief that the war would soon be over.<ref>Sandra Collins. ''The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics: Japan, the Asian Olympics and the Olympic Movement''. p. 146</ref> Amid the intensification of the war, the feasibility of both the Summer Olympics and the [[1940 Winter Olympics]] grew increasingly questionable to other countries, who suggested a different site be chosen and spoke of the possibility of boycotting the Games were they to proceed in Japan.<ref>Sandra Collins. ''The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics: Japan, the Asian Olympics and the Olympic Movement''. p. 149</ref>

In March 1938, [[Kanō Jigorō]], then-IOC member who also represented Japanese Olympic Committee, provided reassurances to the IOC at the organization's [[Cairo]] conference that Tokyo would still be able to serve as the host city. However, many Diet members in Japan had already openly questioned hosting the Olympics in wartime, and the military was demanding that the organizers build the venues from wood because they needed metals for the war front.<ref>橋本一夫『幻の東京オリンピック』（日本放送出版協会、1994年） {{ISBN|4-14-001709-0}}</ref> In July, a legislative session was held to decide the matters of the Summer and Winter Olympics and the planned 1940 [[World's fair|World's Fair]] all at once. The World's Fair was only "postponed", under a belief that Japan would be able to wrap up the war, but the Olympics could not be moved and were canceled.<ref>Sandra Collins. ''The 1940 Tokyo Games: The Missing Olympics: Japan, the Asian Olympics and the Olympic Movement''. pp. 161&ndash;163</ref>

[[Kōichi Kido]], who would later be instrumental in the [[surrender of Japan]] in 1945, announced the forfeiture on 16 July 1938. He closed his speech saying, "When peace reigns again in the Far East, we can then invite the Games to Tokyo and take that opportunity to prove to the people of the world the true Japanese spirit."<ref name="la84"/> This would come to pass in [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964]].

Despite the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics, the Tokyo organizing committee released its budget for the Games.  In a departure from standard practice, the budget included all capital outlays as well as direct organizing costs.  The total budget was [[Japanese yen|¥]]20.1 million, one-third of which would have been paid by the Tokyo metropolitan government.<ref name=Zarnowski>{{cite journal | author-link1 = Frank Zarnowski | last = Zarnowski | first = C. Frank | date =Summer 1992 | title = A Look at Olympic Costs | journal = Citius, Altius, Fortius | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 16–32 | url = http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1f.pdf | access-date = 24 March 2007 | archive-date = 28 May 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080528012143/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1f.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

==Helsinki and other competitions==
[[File:Equipment made in Yleisradio's workshop at the end of the 1930's intended for broadcasting the 1940 Olympics, ca. 1940. (15301312367).jpg|thumb|right|Equipment manufactured by [[Yle]], the Finnish broadcasting company, and [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] for the purpose of broadcasting coverage of the 1940 Games]]
The IOC then awarded the Games to [[Helsinki]], Finland, the city that had been the runner-up in the original bidding process. The Games were then scheduled to be staged from 20 July to 4 August 1940. In December 1939, however, it was announced by IOC President [[Henri de Baillet-Latour|Count Henri Baillet-Latour]] that the games were cancelled, as revealed in [[Brussels]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 3, 1939 |title=Olympic Games Listed for 1940 Canceled, Count Baillet-Latour Reveals in Brussels; OLYMPICS OF 1940 WILL NOT BE HELD |work=The New York Times |pages=95}}</ref> The Olympics were suspended indefinitely following the outbreak of World War II (the [[Winter War]] in particular) and did not resume until the [[1948 Summer Olympics|London Games of 1948]].

With the Olympics canceled, the major international athletics event of the year turned out to be the annual [[Finland-Sweden Athletics International]], held at the new [[Helsinki Olympic Stadium]], exceptionally held as a triple international among [[Finland]], [[Sweden]] and [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].

[[Gliding]] was due to be an Olympic sport in the 1940 Games after a [[demonstration sport|demonstration]] at the [[Gliding at the 1936 Summer Olympics|Berlin]] Games in 1936.<ref>
{{cite book |last= Welch |first= Ann |title= The Story of Gliding 2nd edition |publisher= [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |year= 1980 |isbn = 0-7195-3659-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/flugwerft/collections/sailplanes/olympia-meise/ |title = Glider design to be used at the 1940 Olympic Games | access-date = 25 March 2008 }}</ref> The sport has not been featured in any Games since, though the glider designed for it, the [[DFS Olympia Meise]], was produced in large numbers after the war.

Meanwhile, Japan hosted the [[1940 East Asian Games]] in Tokyo, with six participating nations. Helsinki eventually held the [[1952 Summer Olympics]], while Tokyo held the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] and the [[2020 Summer Olympics]], although the later event was postponed to 2021 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ingle |first1=Justin McCurry Sean |title=Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/24/tokyo-olympics-to-be-postponed-to-2021-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic |work=The Guardian |date=24 March 2020}}</ref>

During August 1940, prisoners of war celebrated a "special Olympics" called the ''International Prisoner-of-War Olympic Games'' at [[Stalag]] XIII-A in [[Langwasser]], near [[Nuremberg]], Germany. An Olympic flag, 29 by 46&nbsp;cm in size, was made of a Polish prisoner's shirt and, drawn in crayon, it featured the Olympic rings and banners for Belgium, France, Great Britain, Norway, Poland, and the Netherlands. A feature film, ''[[Olympics 40|Olimpiada '40]]'', produced by the director [[Andrzej Kotkowski]] in 1980 tells the story of these games and of one of the prisoners of war, Teodor Niewiadomski.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Grys |first= Iwona |title= The Olympic Idea Transcending War |journal= Olympic Review |volume= 25 |issue= 8 |date= April–May 1996 |pages= 68–69 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1996/oreXXV8/oreXXV8zza.pdf |access-date= 31 July 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910020833/http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1996/oreXXV8/oreXXV8zza.pdf| archive-date= 10 September 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref>

==Torch relay==
{{Main|1940 Summer Olympics torch relay}} After the successful invention of the torch relay in Nazi Germany four years earlier, the proposed method of bringing the [[Olympic Flame]] from Greece to Japan was proposed by air delivery, in the {{nowrap|purpose-built}} [[Messerschmitt Me 261]] ''Adolfine'' long-range aircraft, which was designed to have a maximum range of some 11,024&nbsp;km (6,850&nbsp;mi) unrefueled.<ref>{{cite book |title=German Combat Planes |author1=Ray Wagner |author2=Heinz J. Nowarra |year=1971 |publisher=Doubleday |page=312}}</ref>

==See also==
{{IOC seealso|games=1940 Summer Olympics }}
*[[1964 Summer Olympics]]
* The first, and to date only, Olympics to be postponed rather than cancelled.
**[[2020 Summer Olympics]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*[http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1940/OR1940.pdf Official preliminary report. In English] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626081911/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1940/OR1940.pdf |date=26 June 2008 }}

==Further reading==
{{commons category}}
* International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 24, 2007, No. 8, ''Special Issue: The Missing Olympics: The 1940 Tokyo Games, Japan, Asia and the Olympic Movement''

{{S-start}}
{{s-sports|soly}}
{{s-bef|before=[[1936 Summer Olympics|Berlin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=XII Olympiad<br/>[[Tokyo]]/[[Helsinki]]|years=1940 (cancelled due to World War II)}}
{{s-aft|after=[[1944 Summer Olympics|London]] <br />cancelled due to World War II}}
{{S-end}}

{{Olympic Games}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1940 Summer Olympics| ]]
[[Category:Cancelled Olympic Games]]
[[Category:Events cancelled due to World War II]]
[[Category:1940 in multi-sport events]]
[[Category:Summer Olympics by year]]