Like Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia, which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Ichikawa's film was considered a cinematographic milestone in documentary filmmaking.

However, Tokyo Olympiad keeps its focus far more on the atmosphere of the games and the human side of the athletes rather than concentrating on winning and the results.

However, Kurosawa's famous tendency for complete control - he demanded to not only direct the film but the opening and closing ceremonies as well - led to his dismissal.

Ichikawa's vision of the Tokyo Olympics was controversial at the time as it was the opposite of what the Japanese government wanted and expected of the film.

As of 2020, a restored, full and unedited version of the original Japanese release is available to view on the Olympic Channel's own website.

Its focus on the humanity of athletes and spectators, showing the physical effort, excitement, joy of victory and disappointment of defeat, rather than simply the recording of results, was seen as highly original, and the use of zoom lenses and close-ups set a new standard for the filming of sports.

[7] In December 2017, The Criterion Collection issued on Blu-ray and DVD, under exclusive license from the IOC, 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912-2012, which includes Tokyo Olympiad.

In 2019, the official Olympic Channel's own website made a digitally restored and unedited copy of the full original release available on the internet.