TOKYO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- With 500 days to go until the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the Japanese organizing committee on Tuesday unveiled the official pictograms symbolizing the different sports and competition events to be held at the Summer Games next year.
At an event in Tokyo to mark the 500-day milestone, Olympic organizers released the 50 pictograms, which were created in line with the Tokyo 2020 brand promise of "Innovation from Harmony."
The pictograms, featuring 33 sports, were designed to subtly communicate the characteristics and athleticism of each sport, as well as to artistically highlight the dynamism of the athletes, said organizers, who expected the icons to play an important role in enhancing the experience of athletes and spectators alike during the Games.
Two sets of the icons were created for different uses. The unframed "Free Type" pictograms will be used on posters, tickets and licensed products, while the "Frame Type," which feature a circle frame, will be used for more functional purposes on maps, guidebooks, websites and on signage at competition venues.
According to organizers, the pictograms were based on ones used at the previous Tokyo Olympics in 1964, when the pictograms were first introduced.
A team of 10, led by Japanese graphic designer Masaaki Hiromura, began developing the official icons in June 2017.
"I have tried to express the dynamic beauty of the athletes through these pictograms, while respecting the legacy bequeathed by the pioneers of the Japanese design industry in their designs for the 1964 Tokyo Games," said Hiromura.
"I hope that these pictograms will inspire everyone and help generate excitement for the different sports at Tokyo 2020, and that they will colorfully decorate the 2020 Games," he said.
Two medal-winning Japanese athletes who joined the 500-day event commented on the pictograms.
Kiyo Shimizu, gold medalist in women's karate at the Asian Games in Jakarta last year, said the pictogram of karate looked "cool and realistic."
Shota Iizuka, from Japan's 2016 Olympic silver-winning men's 4x100-meter relay team, said the pictograms depicting athletics had "an ideal angle of the start and looks fast."
On the same day, a project to showcase the games as the "reconstruction Olympics" was launched.
A promotional caravan bus, set to travel across the three northeastern prefectures stricken by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, set off in a symbolic gesture.
The bus will spend a few days in Tokyo before heading to the three prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate.
According to the organizing committee, most of the venues to be used next summer were 50 to 70 percent complete as of January, in preparation for this summer's test events.
The New National Stadium, located in Tokyo's central Shinjuku Ward, is expected to be completed in November. Currently, the construction work of the roof's iron framework has been finished.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which will feature 339 events, are expected to host 11,000 athletes from July 24 to August 9.
Of the Games' 33 sports, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will appear on the Olympic stage for the first time, while dual baseball and softball return to the Games after 12 years.
