Mascot design competition may be finalized by mid-April
The criteria for selecting the official mascot of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could be finalized by mid-April, the games' organizing committee said on Tuesday.
.After the seventh discussion of a panel deciding the procedures for the mascot's public design competition, organizers said they have drawn up a rough draft of the selection process which will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee by the end of the month at the latest. Following the review of the IOC and IPC, the panel will meet in April for the eighth and possibly the final time before publicizing details of the design competition. The subsequent competition to name the mascot will be open to experienced professionals only. The mascot is set to be unveiled in the summer of 2018.
Panel member and TV personality Shoko Nakagawa, a noted manga-animation fanatic, said she had high hopes for the popularity of the mascot, both at home and abroad. "Japanese characters are loved overseas and there are a lot of people who dress up as them," said Nakagawa, one of 15 members on the panel.
"There are many characters from Japan who have been embraced by the world over periods of time." Yoshiko Ikoma, the panel's vice chair, said organizers learned their lesson from the selection process of the official 2020 emblem, which had to be replaced after plagiarism allegations dogged the initial design. "I think the experience from selecting the emblem is proving to be huge," Ikoma said.
"The process we had to go through for the emblem is giving us confidence now, and the opinions of the people who were involved is counting for a lot."
"There was no mascot for the last Tokyo Olympics because it was from 1968 that mascots started being used. So this will be the first mascot for the Summer Olympics from Japan. We hope it will historic, a legacy that will be dear to everyone."
"I know so many people who have grown close to Japan through manga and animation. The entire world will be keen to see what it will look like, and we want as many people as possible to enter." The design competition will welcome all comers including children, who can apply with a guardian. Designs must be drafted from six different angles with various expressions and poses, as well as a narrative for the mascot.
