Tokyo Olympic Logo Ideas Down To Final Four

TOKYO, JAPAN - JAN. 9: Four design proposals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics official logo have made the final cut for the public competition, organizers said Saturday, JAnuary 9. Ryohei Miyata, chairman of the logo selection committee, revealed that the three-day screening process ended with 21 committee members each selecting three designs and voting to decide on the final shortlist. "We got excited in the selection process. There were a lot of images that expressed the designers' passion. It was very difficult to choose," said Miyata. The committee members included baseball legend Sadaharu Oh and former professional tennis star Ai Sugiyama, while no details of the four pieces' designers were disclosed. The new logo will be unveiled "preferably around March," according to Miyata. Prior to that, organizers will investigate and register trademarks for each work, a process that will cost around 20 million yen per design. From that point, the committee will consider public opinions posted on the website. Four more pieces were selected in case similar designs are found during the trademark investigation. The logo selected last July and designed by Kenjiro Sano was scrapped amid accusations of plagiarism. The relaxed condition for participation saw 14,599 entries ahead of the first screening.