2020 Olympics
Schoolchildren pick two pointy-eared mascots to represent Tokyo games
TOKYO — Mascot-loving Japan has two new characters to get excited about after two futuristic designs with pointy ears and checkered patterns were unveiled on Wednesday to promote the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Chosen by schoolchildren across Japan and announced before a gymnasium of cheering pupils in Tokyo, the as yet unnamed blue character will be the mascot for the Olympics and the pink cherry blossom-inspired one for the Paralympics.
“It’s quite innovative, I like the blue-check pattern while the pink one uses cherry blossoms and it shows traditional Japan,” said Miyu Kawa, a 12-year-old student at Hoyonomori Gakuen School, where the selection was announced.
“These two are very different in design but I think they have quite a unity between them,” she said, evoking a theme that resonates well with the Olympic movement.
Organizers last year received more than 2,000 entries from the general public in a nationwide competition, from which they shortlisted three pairs of designs in December.
Students from more than 200,000 classes at around 16,000 Japanese elementary schools took part in the selection process, with each class casting a single vote.
The winning pair, created by designer and illustrator Ryo Taniguchi, received more than half of the total and easily beat the other two pairs.
Mascots are massive in Japan, the land of Hello Kitty and Pokemon, and there are literally thousands representing everything from small communities to prisons.
Known locally as “yurukyara” or “laid-back characters”, mascots can also be major money-spinners.
The pot-bellied, red-cheeked bear known as Kumamon — created in 2010 to promote Japan’s southern Kumamoto region — raked in $8.8 million last year for local businesses selling branded products.
Twelve-year-old Miyu Kawa from the school where the winner was unveiled on Wednesday pronounced the mascots “unique” and “very cool”.
“I am excited to imagine these characters on display everywhere and moving around,” she said.
But social media reaction was mixed with some saying they wanted something “more round” and more “huggable”.
Several users said the futuristic-looking mascot chosen appealed more to children whereas adults preferred the softer and more traditional options.
Welcoming the “adorable” characters to the Tokyo 2020 team, the city’s governor Yuriko Koike said she hoped the selection would continue to build “momentum” and “excitement” with less than 900 days to go until the opening ceremony.
Masaaki Komiya, vice-director general of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, said the panel expected to announce the names later this year.
“In the meantime we will also have discussions on what kind of goods we will be producing,” he said.
Designer Taniguchi will not, however, receive any royalties from mascot-related products because the contest regulations specified that all intellectual rights would go to the International Olympic and Paralympic committees, he said.