Your idea could become an official mascot of the 2020 Games. The organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics launched a campaign Tuesday to solicit ideas for official mascots.

The committee will decide the winner based on multiple screenings and a vote by elementary school students. The result will be announced by early February next year.

 

The vote by elementary school students will be key to the selection.

“What you pick in the final phase will be the mascots,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Ryohei Miyata, who chairs the committee’s mascot-screening panel. Miyata spoke at a ceremony at Kuramae Elementary School in Tokyo’s Taito Ward to mark the campaign launch.

“I ask of you a very important task,” he told the students.

“I want mascots that are adorable and brand new,” said Yuya Kagami, a 10-year-old fifth-grader.

Citizens and foreign residents aged 18 and over as of April 1 are eligible to enter the campaign, regardless of experience. Applicants can be individuals or groups of under 10 people. Entries will be accepted through Aug. 14.

Three or four final entries will chosen after several rounds of screening before the final vote by students.

One vote will be allocated to each elementary school class taking part in the poll, which will be conducted between Dec. 11 and Jan. 19.

The screening panel will choose the names of the mascots from multiple outside proposals.

source: The Japan Times