Tokyo 2020 Begins Mascot Licensing

(ATR) Tokyo 2020 mascots will be available for purchase in Japan after being shown to the public for the first time, organizers said.

A total of 139 items will go on sale on July 22, 65 Olympic mascot items and 64 of the Paralympic mascot. Every item will be available for purchase online, while some merchandise will make its way to physical stores across Japan.

"We marketed the mascot to kids," a Tokyo 2020 licensing official said when showing a range of products to Around the Rings. "So we figured kids should be the main consumer for us."

Objects for sale include five different sized mascot plush dolls ranging from three feet tall to just a few inches in height. The smaller mascots are designed to be attached to children’s backpacks so they can be displayed on the way to and from school.

A number of t-shirt designs will be produced for children and adults, along with hats, keychains, stickers, fans and notebooks.

Ryo Taniguchi, the designer of the mascots, was involved in the design process of merchandise according to Tokyo 2020.

Tokyo 2020 had school children around the country vote to choose the pair of mascots. Three options were given to the classrooms, and the winning pair received over 100,000 votes.

The mascots will be presented to the public on July 22 at the Hibiya Midtown shopping complex. There the names of the mascots will be shared to the general public, when sales commence.

A pop-up store at the hotel will give Tokyoites a chance to be the first people to purchase the mascots. The pop-up will run until September 6, which will be the two years to go date to the close of the 2020 Paralympic Games.

So far Tokyo 2020 merchandise is available in more than 100 stores around the country. The first dedicated Tokyo 2020 store is yet to open, but members of the licensing team expect 30-40 such stores will be open around the country. The number of licenses Tokyo 2020 is offering for its merchandise will also begin expanding, bringing more items to different storefronts.

The initial offering of merchandise will not be the only items sold with the mascots on them. Licensing officials say more plush dolls are in the works with different poses, for example.

Written and reported by Aaron Bauer in Tokyo

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