Tokyo 2020 Forms Logo Selection Committee

(ATR) After the first design for the Tokyo 2020 Games was scrapped because of plagiarism allegations, organizers will use a committee to select a replacement logo.

The committee will be called the Tokyo 2020 Emblems Selection Committee and will seek to examine the problems that arose from the last design and create a policy for the selection of a new emblem.

Before the committee can choose a new logo for the Games, the members of the committee must first be selected by another group, headed by the president of Tokyo University of the Arts Ryohei Miyata. Miyata is also the chairman of the Tokyo 2020 Culture and Education Commission.

"To ensure the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games, it is essential that we actively engage as many people as possible. We will exert our utmost efforts toward the selection of emblems that the people of Japan can be proud of, and that will inspire excitement and passion throughout the whole of the country," Miyata said.

Other members of the preliminary committee include former tennis pro Ai Sugiyama and TV sports commentator Keiichi Tadaki.

As with the first logo, organizers will open up a competition for designers to submit new logos. The first contest received 104 designs and resulted in the selection of Kenjiro Sano’s piece. Sano later asked for Tokyo 2020 to scrap the logo after plagiarism claims surfaced from a theatre in Belgium.

Organizers are contemplating reducing the entry requirements for the second wave of competition. Applicants in the first contest must have won two of seven designated design awards before being considered.

The logo design gaffe is the second time Tokyo 2020 has had to press the restart button on plans for the 2020 Games. In July, organizers scrapped national stadium plans due to inflating construction cost projections. Both the logo and national stadium will be the product of design contests.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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