Rare official's badge for the canceled Tokyo 1940 Summer Olympics. Set on a mauve rosette, the silvered and enameled pin, 15 gm, 38 mm in diameter, shows the Olympic rings against Mount Fuji, and reads, "XII Olympiad, Tokyo 1940."
The start of the second Sino-Japanese on July 7, 1937, raised the question among both the Japanese and the international community whether Tokyo 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 of Tokyo's lost 1940 Olympics.
