Why Everyone Is Fussing Over The Tokyo Olympics Logo

From accusations of plagiarism to tweets about sparrows, the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee prove again that winning the right to host the Games is the beginning of a losing battle.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee / Via tokyo2020.jp

Late last month, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee announced its official logo against a backdrop of waning local support for the Games. Although the committee intended Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano's design to show "the unique ability of the Olympic Games to bring together people from all over the world in peace and harmony," it divided public opinion almost as much as the now-shelved plans for the 252 billion yen main venue, which was supposed to only cost 130 billion yen at first.

Olivier Debie / Via debie.com

It didn't take long for a theater in Liege to say "hey, copycat!"

Japan Professional Football League / Via jleague.jp

People also noted similarities to the logo of Japan's professional soccer league, the J.League:

Arie Nashiya / Via blog.goo.ne.jp

By that time, plenty of Japanese people had started interpreting the emblem in their own ways.

A typical Japanese bento (boxed lunch) including a mound of rice, nori (seaweed) and a pickled plum.

@motocho_tw / Via Twitter: @motcho_tw

Another Twitter user, however, became obsessed with calculating the area of the logo:

@motocho_tw / Via Twitter: @motcho_tw

He figured it out.

MYM / Via Twitter: @yuuzakura

Then someone tweeted that all he can see is a little bird.

Once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's a Java sparrow, a popular pet bird in Japan. The Paralympics emblem, of course, is also a sparrow, with a black body.

Via peco-japan.com

See?

And then everyone started tweeting their own ideas...

Via Twitter: @DoctorBurdock

"I thought up an emblem of my own. Isn't this sexy?"

Luo Jie / Via chinadaily.com.cn

Predictably, this:

@LRUEND / Via Twitter: @LRUEND

And inevitably, this:

You can make your own, too.

Via dl.dropboxusercontent.com

The sky is the limit when it comes to this website.

Mine is a bit too Christmassy, but you can play around with it.

Via up.gc-img.net

We're stumped. We can't agree on an emblem. It's too hard.

How about no emblem? If Beijing can host the Winter Games without any snow, surely Tokyo can do it without a logo?!