Rare official’s badge for the canceled Tokyo 1940 Summer Olympics. Set on a mauve rosette, the silvered and enameled pin, 38 mm in diameter, shows the Olympic rings against Mount Fuji, and reads, “XII Olympiad, Tokyo 1940.” Includes a leather presentation case. The start of the second Sino–Japanese on July 7, 1937, raised the question among both the Japanese and the international community whether Tokyo still remained a logical Olympic host city. As the Japanese war effort continued to mount, the Games were forfeited to Helsinki, Finland, the runner-up in the original bidding process, but were soon suspended indefinitely following the outbreak of World War II. A solemn remembrance from Tokyo’s lost 1940 Olympics.
