Architect and urban planner Kenzo Tange is one of the most influential architects of his generation, having introduced Japan to the modern architecture discovered in the work of the masters. In 1987, he was the first Japanese to receive the Pritzker Prize, the world's highest distinction in architecture. To understand the true origins of the 2 Olympic gymnasiums built by Kenzo Tange for the 1964 Olympic Games, we have to go back to the defeat of Japan after the Second World War and the years that followed: Japan's occupation by the Americans, its absence from the international scene and its slow economic reconstruction. It's rare for a building to embody so many ambitions: those of an architect and a team of 25 young architects and urban planners, those of a city, those of a country determined to become a world power once again.