Postcards from Tokyo: Light and shadow ahead of pandemic Olympics

The Tokyo Tower and other landmarks were lit in special Olympic colours in April to mark 100 days before the Summer Games opened, but were shrouded in clouds of mist when rain enveloped the Japanese capital that night.

Light and shadows are the hallmarks of these Games, the second time Tokyo is the host.

Half a century earlier, in 1964, the Games heralded a new era of modernity for a city risen from the ashes of a war that had ended fewer than two decades before. Their symbol was the sleek high-speed bullet trains that began running just days before the opening ceremony.