Tokyo 2020 withdraws logo after plagiarism scandal

Organisers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics withdrew on Tuesday (September 1) the official logo announced for the Games just a month ago due to the public’s concern about whether the logo was plagiarised.

Questions about the 2020 logo arose immediately after its July unveiling when Belgian designer Olivier Debie said it was too similar to his logo for the Theatre de Liege and demanded its use be halted. He and the theatre subsequently filed a lawsuit in a local court.

Designer Kenjiro Sano from the start denied plagiarising the logo announced on July 24 – a stylised “T” with a red circle symbolic of Japan’s flag.

Japanese officials had stood firmly behind Sano since the controversy erupted, saying that they had conducted thorough checks before choosing the logo and that the theatre’s logo was not trademarked, so there were no legal issues.

But public concern grew last month after Sano’s office asked a beer company to withdraw some designs for promotional goods, admitting that they had been copied. A survey by TBS television found that 85 percent of respondents felt the logo should be revised.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters following news of the withdrawal that they should make sure the public is supportive of the Olympics.

“This must be an event that is celebrated by the people of the nation,” Abe said.

“I feel betrayed. So I want to hear an explanation and if I’m convinced then we can use the design again,” Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe told reporters on Tuesday before he announced the withdrawal of the emblem.

The fuss over the logo, which from the start received mixed reviews from the Japanese public, is just the latest mishap to befall Japan almost two years after it won hosting rights for the 2020 Games over Madrid and Istanbul.

After word of plagiarism arose earlier this year, Sano held a press conference and denied the speculations.

“Of course I didn’t take that (logo) as an example, there is absolutely nothing to that talk,” Sano told journalists in early August.

Japan took the unusual move of scrapping plans for its new national stadium in July due to anger over ballooning costs, vowing to come up with a new design and build the facility as cheaply as possible.

Last week officials said they would slash construction costs by a third from previous estimates of $2.1 billion.