Japan withdraws its 2020 Olympic Games logo

The organising committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics withdrew the official logo unveiled for the Games amid allegations of plagariasm, media reports said on Tuesday.

The controvery began in July when Belgian designer Olivier Debie said the official logo from Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano was too similar to his own for the Threatre de Liege, and filed a lawsuit against the International Olympic Committee over the rights on using the image.

Sano said his design was inspired in part by the original logo for the 1964 Summer Olympics Games.

"We are confident that the Games' logo design is original," Toshiro Muto, director general of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said last week.

Nonetheless, the request for the withdrawal came after "issues regarding copyright" were raised on the Internet, Sano's office said in a statement.

I believe it’s the best design for an Olympic motif and it perfectly captures the Olympic quality of harmony

In the light of the recent scandal, many Japanese artists started submitting their proposals for an alternate design.
Japanese Twitter user @vivakankan´s proposal won him many fans.

“The folding fan symbolizes good omens in the way it spreads out, and the tool has been used to cheer others on since ancient times. I believe it’s the best design for an Olympic motif and it perfectly captures the Olympic quality of harmony. The theme of ‘Japan (the red suns) being supported by many peoples’ is also represented in its design,” he said.

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