Tokyo was selected in 1936 to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, but had to withdraw its hosting duties upon Japan's second invasion of China in the following year. This led the organizing committee to abandon organizing the 1940 Games altogether in 1938 with them being awarded to Helsinki though the Finnish city would abandon the 1940 Games themselves in the wake of World War II. After being excluded from the 1948 Summer Olympics due to their involvement in World War II, Japan launched their Olympic bid in 1950 and was selected to host the 1964 Summer Games in 1959.