kk027_1932_w109

Japan's presence on the world stage did not stop at politics. The Japanese took immense pride in their
emerging athletic prowess, and their increased ability to compete successfully with Western countries.
This stadium at Meiji Shrine was part of a larger complex known as the “sports center of the Orient,” which
included this stadium constructed in 1920, and a baseball stadium constructed in 1926 and enlarged in 1931
to accommodate up to fifty-seven thousand spectators. The grounds of the Meiji Outer Garden also contained
the largest competition swimming pool in Japan, completed in 1931, with a thirteen thousand-spectator capacity.
Only two Japanese athletes attended the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, but by the 1928 Olympics
in Amsterdam, Japanese athletes had won two competitions. At the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Japan
won seven competitions, and radio station JOAK aired live broadcasts of the action from Los Angeles.