> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Tokyo Plagued by Another Logo Plagiarism Fiasco - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/tokyo-plagued-by-another-logo-plagiarism-fiasco/ - Published: 2015-10-15T14:27:13.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:15:04.000Z - Description: Tokyo has been working hard to strengthen and promote its brand as it gears up to host the 2020 Olympic Games, but the Japanese capital is having a rough time of it, hiring designers who are short on inspiration. - Author: Claire Voon - Tags: In Brief, Branding, Plagiarism, Tokyo, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:13 (2014, 2015, part 3) ![(screenshot via Plug&See/Twitter)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/plug-and-play-tokyo-logo.jpg) (screenshot via Plug&See/Twitter) Tokyo has been working hard to strengthen and promote its brand as it gears up to host the 2020 Olympic Games, but the Japanese capital is having a rough time of it, hiring designers who are short on inspiration. In August Kenjiro Sano, the designer behind the logo for the Games, was [accused](https://hyperallergic.com/crimes-of-the-art-24/) of plagiarizing a logo by Belgian designer Olivier Debie; now, a French eyewear startup has noted similarities between its company logo and a new one representing the city of Tokyo that Japanese government officials [unveiled](http://www.sankei.com/photo/daily/news/151009/dly1510090035-n1.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) just last week. The new municipal logo, designed by the country’s oldest advertising agency [Hakuhodo](http://www.hakuhodo.jp/?ref=hyperallergic.com), consists of a white ampersand encased in a red circle as part of the also-new tagline “[&TOKYO](http://andtokyo.jp/en/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” which officials are encouraging locals and tourists to engage with by adding their own words “to [expand](http://andtokyo.jp/en/brand/?ref=hyperallergic.com) the meaning” (“RELAX &TOKYO,” for example). The Lyon-based [Plug & See](http://plugandsee.club/en/frontpage-2/?ref=hyperallergic.com), which launched this year, has a logo that features the same symbols and colors, although its circle surrounds two overlapping ampersands. While the designs by Sano and Debie are rather similar — and Debie [is suing](http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind%5Fnews/social%5Faffairs/AJ201509230046?ref=hyperallergic.com) — this recent case presents a tougher claim to make since the logos utilize common shapes and are incredibly simple. Although Spoon & Tamago [noted](http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2015/10/11/tokyo-city-of-tokyo-announces-new-logo/?ref=hyperallergic.com#more-33628) that Plug & See originally “refuted the claim” on Twitter, any such tweet has apparently since been deleted. Rather than picking a fight, however, Plug & See has instead announced that it will cede the logo duel to Tokyo and change its branding. It has started a fundraising campaign to commission a new brand design. The front page of the French start-up’s website now [reads](http://plugandsee.club/fr/frontpage/?ref=hyperallergic.com#appel-aux-dons), “In the name of Franco-Japanese friendship, we are quite willing to let Toyko have this logo. Help us fund the adventure and a new graphic identity.” The message appears in not just [English](http://plugandsee.club/en/frontpage-2/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and French, but also in [Japanese](http://plugandsee.club/fr/%E3%81%94%E5%8D%94%E5%8A%9B%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E9%A1%98%E3%81%84/?ref=hyperallergic.com) for good measure. Only time will tell if the company is actually receiving public donations for a redesign, but for now, it is at least embracing the opportunity to promote itself across all social media platforms — admittedly, a pretty witty way to handle a case of possible plagiarism. While the 2020 Olympic Games organizers decided to [drop](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/01/tokyo-2020-olympics-logo-scrapped-after-allegations-of-plagiarism?ref=hyperallergic.com) Sano’s design despite rejecting the plagiarism claims, government officials seem content with “&TOKYO” and have not addressed Plug & See’s claims. We may never know if the new city logo was inspired by the eyewear company’s, but at least it wasn’t plagiarized off [party supplies](https://hyperallergic.com/new-zealanders-embarrassed-by-finalists-for-national-flag-and-banknote-redesigns/). *h/t* [*Spoon & Tamago*](http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2015/10/11/tokyo-city-of-tokyo-announces-new-logo?ref=hyperallergic.com)