The men's parallel bars was a gymnastics event contested as part of the Gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. The event was held on 18, 20, and 23 October. There were 128 competitors from 29 nations, with nations in the team competition having up to 6 gymnasts and other nations entering up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Yukio Endo of Japan, the nation's first victory in the parallel bars after two Games with silver and bronze medals. It was the first of a four-Games gold medal streak for Japanese gymnasts in the event. Japan also took silver, with Shuji Tsurumi finishing second. Bronze went to Franco Menichelli of Italy.