TOKYO - It was Oct 10, 1964.
Singapore would not be independent for another 10 months. Elvis Presley and Bruce Lee were at the apex of their careers.
Under clear cerulean skies and with the mercury at a breezy 20 deg C, that autumn day was Tokyo's.
The world's attention was on the Japanese capital for the opening ceremony of the 18th modern Summer Olympic Games - never mind the seasonal misnomer.
In just 19 short years since defeat in World War II, Tokyo had risen from the ashes of war and its status as a Third World backwater to become a technological marvel.
It was nothing short of transformative for the first city in Asia to host the marquee sporting event. The shinkansen bullet train - at the time the world's fastest - began service just nine days earlier, connecting Tokyo to Osaka half the country away.