Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
TOKYO — Japanese summers are known for their oppressive and sometimes deadly mix of heat and humidity. In late July and early August the past two years, more than 1,000 people, including more than 150 in Tokyo, died of heat-related causes. Tens of thousands were hospitalized.
That kind of heat led Olympic organizers in 1964 to move the Summer Olympics to October. Those Games began on Oct. 10 55 years ago in Tokyo.
Next year, when the Summer Olympics return to Japan’s capital, they will open on July 24 and run until Aug.