Tokyo 2020

2011-2012
The official Olympic bid logo for Tokyo 2020 was unveiled on November 30, 2011 after a nationwide competition for an applicable design. The logo's design was created by Joshibi University of Art and Design student, Ai Shimamine.

The emblem exhibits a wreath composed of cherry blossoms, a well-known floral symbol of Japan. It incorporates the colours of the Olympic Rings as well as Purple, which celebrates the Edo period. The circular shape represents diversity with each petal representing the importance and dependencies of the world's people with one another. According to an interview with Shimamine, the wreath was included as she saw that wreaths "carry a message of 'coming back again'." She saw the hosting of the Olympics as an opportunity to reinvigorate Japan through sport.
 * The story behind Tokyo's winning 2020 Olympic logo
 * Ginza X People: Interview with Ai Shimamine

2012-2013


Tokyo was declared an official candidate for the 2020 Summer Olympics on May 23, 2012. To reflect this move, the Olympic Rings were added to the bottom of the logo along with the words 'Candidate City'.

2013-July 2015, September 2015-present
Tokyo won the rights to host the games at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As such, the words 'Candidate City' was removed. This logo remained as an interim logo until the unveiling of the first version of its official emblem. This logo was reinstated in September 2015 as the organising committee took down the first design amid allegations of plagiarism.

1st Generation Olympics
The first version of the games' emblems for both the Olympics and Paralympics were presented via a special event in Tokyo at 7pm of the 24th of July 2015, exactly 5 years before the Olympic opening ceremony.

Both the Olympic and Paralympic symbols were designed by Kenjiro Sano; a graduate of the Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University and winner of many graphic design awards such as the New York ADC Gold Award and the Cannes Lions Gold.

The symbol was chosen from 104 submissions and explores the fundamental mission of the Olympic movement which is to unite the world through sport. This is shown through various means and techniques in this emblem.
 * The 'T' shape of the emblem was inspired by the typefaces Didot and Bodoni whose highly serifed forms were seen by Sano as to have 'appealing strength and sensitivity'. It embodies the three themes of the emblem's design:
 * Tokyo - the host city of the event and the meeting point of the world's athletes.
 * Tomorrow - the ambition of the event to construct a better, more connected future for the world.
 * Team - the entire world unites as one team.
 * As black is the combination of all colours, the central pillar represents tolerance and diversity regardless of race, nationality or religion.
 * The circle symbolises an all-accepting planet and it's red colour stands for a beating heart. It also not only alludes to the Japanese flag, but the geographic position of Japan on the world map; in the top right corner.
 * The circle re-enforced by the negative space of the two irregular triangles denotes an open, transparent world.


 * The use of gold in the top left triangle pays homage to the last summer games held in Tokyo back in 1964.

Questions arouse further about about the Tokyo 2020 emblem after Sano's office requested to Japanese beverage company Suntory that they pull 8 of 30 tote bag designs for a beer brand. It had emerged that the designers had traced these designs "from a third party".

Other plagiarism claims have emerging since then. The Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens began an investigation of their current logo which was instated in 2012 and designed by Sano after comments that it matched the logo of the National Museum of Costa Rica. American artist Josh Divine claims that Sano's logo for an Art Museum and Library in Ota, Gunma Prefecture is similar to a design of his own.

The committee continued to defend Sano's work, but became inundated with pressure to pull the design following the multiple plagiarism claims against Sano. The organising committee claimed that "we became aware of new things this weekend and there was a sense of crisis that we thought could not be ignored.". The logo was generally unfavourable to the public as the committee also stated that, "we have decided that the logo cannot gain public support.". It's retraction was also requested by Sano himself saying that he feels the controversy was beginning to damage the reputation of the Tokyo games and that his own reputation was under threat. They conceded that this emblem had become a PR disaster and came to the conclusion to retire it just over a month after it had been instated.

On the 2nd of September 2015, the emblems designed by Kenjiro Sano were officially scrapped. The official website and social media channels have reverted to using the interim emblem by Ai Shimamine for the period until a new emblem can be selected. On the 27th of January 2016, Debie stated that he will drop the suit against the organising committee, citing the mounting legal costs.
 * Tokyo 2020 - Emblems (Original page removed)
 * International Paralympic Committee - Tokyo 2020 launches emblems for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
 * Brand New - New Logo for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games by Kenjiro Sano
 * The Guardian - Tokyo Olympic Games logo embroiled in plagiarism row
 * Reuters - 'No truth' to plagiarism claims: Tokyo 2020 logo designer
 * Asahi Shimbun - Olympic organizers reveal original logo design, deny plagiarism
 * Asahi Shimbun - Tokyo Olympics logo designer now accused of reproducing images without permission
 * Asahi Shimbun - Designer of Tokyo Olympics emblem faces new allegations over zoo logo
 * The Japan Times - Tokyo Olympics logo designer faces fresh plagiarism claim from U.S. artist
 * The Guardian - Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo scrapped after allegations of plagiarism

1st Generation Paralympics
This paralympic emblem was near identical to its Olympic counterpart, but has two black pillars positioned to the sides as opposed to one in the middle. It represents the equal sign '=' showing the Paralympics as an event which shares the same ideals as the Olympics and holds Paralympians to the same standards of the Olympic Games. It may also be interpreted as the Roman numeral for 2, which represents the second time Tokyo plays host to the Paralympics and in inclusion, the only city at the point of writing to host the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year twice.

2nd Generation (2016-2020)
The organizers established a separate committee on the 16th of September to select a new emblem for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The committee consists of athletes, design experts and Japanese sports personnel. Some notable members are the president of the Tokyo University of the Arts Ryohei Miyata, former tennis professional player Ai Sugiyama and sports commentator Keiichi Tadaki.

Among the responsibilities of the committee are to consider the events leading the former emblem's withdrawal and make a policy on which to judge future emblem designs. The new committee also aims to include the wider community in the selection progress. The new logo will be decided by the committee as part of an open competition among Japanese citizens and residents to create the new logo. Two questionnaires were conducted by the committee in October 2015 to find what people looked for in an Olympic emblem. According to a [http://polls.dailynews.yahoo.co.jp/sports/19262/result survey by Yahoo! Japan], most respondees wanted an emblem which is "sympathetic to a lot of people".
 * CTV News - Tokyo 2020 organizers begin new Olympic logo selection process
 * Tokyo 2020 - Tokyo 2020 Emblems Selection: The Organising Committee Announces the Establishment of a Preliminary Committee

The submission period ran from the 24th of November to the 7th of December 2015. It was reported that 14,599 submissions were received within the 2 week period; 12,900 of which came from individual designers and primary school students. Participant ages ranged from 12 months to a 107 year old. Copyright checks will be conducted by the IOC on all designs and the committee is expected to release a shortlist of 4 designs on their website on the 25th of April once they are registered.

The new official emblem is to be chosen soon.
 * Tokyo 2020 - Special webpage for the Tokyo 2020 Games emblems #Tokyo2020Emblems
 * Bangkok Post - Tokyo 2020 gets new logo proposals after plagiarism scandal