The men's discus throw was one of four men's throwing events on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October 1964. 29 athletes from 21 nations entered, with 1 additional athlete not starting in the qualification round. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Al Oerter of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's discus throw. Oerter became the first man to win three medals in the event, all of them gold. He was only the second person to win three consecutive gold medals in any individual athletics event. It was the third of his four consecutive wins in the event. Ludvik Danek of Czechoslovakia took silver to break up the Americans' two-Games dominance of the discus podium; no non-American had won a medal since 1952. Dave Weill earned bronze to make this the fourth straight Games that the United States had won at least two medals in the event.

At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the athletics competition included 36 events, 24 for men and 12 for women. The women's 400 metres and women's pentathlon events were newly introduced at these Games. There were a total number of 1016 participating athletes from 82 countries.