The Tokyo 2020 twitter has recently revealed three sets of mascots shortlisted to represent the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Anyone familiar with characters like Kumamon and Domo-kun know that Japan has turned the mascot business into an art, using cute and wacky characters to represent regions, local attractions, and products. Naturally, this would result in some fantastic choices for the 2020 Olympic Games mascots.
According to the Tokyo 2020 website, 2,042 entries were received for the Mascots Design Competition, and the candidates below will be further whittled down by Japanese elementary schoolers who will vote for their favourite sets from 11 December to 22 February. The winning mascot duo will be announced on 28 February, and their formal debut will come some months after in July or August. Check out the potential candidates below! The top tier are the designs for the Olympic mascots, while the second tier show the candidates for the Paralympics mascots.
Alongside these images, the Tokyo 2020 Twitter has also provided several factoids on the candidates detailing their special abilities and what inspired their designs. For example, the mascots from Candidate A are inspired by checkered patterns, technology, and cherry blossoms. The Olympic mascot can teleport, while its Paralympic counterpart can communicate with stones and the wind, moving things without touching them. Mascots from Candidate B represent the opposing elements of earth and wind, with the Olympic mascot inspired by foxes and lucky cats, while the Paralympic mascot was inspired by the guardian dogs or ‘lion dogs’ that can be seen at the entrances of temples in Japan. Their special abilities include imbuing people with happy energy and causing dead trees to blossom. Lastly, Candidate C are the spirit of the wind and spirit of the forest respectively, inspired by foxes and tanuki from Japanese fairy tales.
Regardless of who is announced as official mascots in February next year, each duo has a lot of charm and would make great representatives for the 2020 Olympics. So pick your favourites and keep your fingers crossed that the elementary schoolers voting agree with you, we have a while to wait before we see which duo comes out on top.
