It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Western Europe and the United States , and only the 3rd Games ( Summer or Winter ) held outside these regions , after Tokyo and Mexico City . It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Europe and North America , and only the 3rd games ( summer or winter ) held outside those regions over all , after Melbourne ( 1956 Summer Olympics ) and Tokyo ( 1964 Summer Olympics ) . Sapporo was the largest city to host a Winter Games at the time .