We’d like to add our own stamp of approval to the ones already there.
Read More
logo
Owners say sayonara to their iconic red sign with a new logo that captures the spirit of all the youth fashion stores inside the building.
Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe revealed the capital city’s new logo at a press conference in the nation’s capital on Friday, and the simple design, featuring the one-line catchphrase “&TOKYO”, is already in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
The logo unveiling was met with a heightened level of scrutiny following the plagiarism scandal which resulted in the withdrawal of the official Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo recently, and it turns out that netizens are now worried about a recurrence of events. The distinctive white ampersand enclosed in a circle has been discovered online in a similar black, white and red configuration currently in use by another organisation, an insurance and commercial litigation company in New Zealand.
There hasn’t been a lot of love for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics’ logo, which was officially unveiled by the event’s Organising Committee at the tail-end of July. Almost immediately after getting their first eyeful of it, many in Japan called it unappealing and confusing, and just a few days later some were calling it plagiarized.
In other words, not too many people were looking forward to seeing the emblem plastered all over the city during the Games, as well as the years leading up to them. The good news for the logo’s detractors is that they probably won’t have to, as the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics seem ready to officially withdraw the design for their promotion.
It’s been a rocky debut for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics official logo. First, it elicited mixed reactions as to whether its somewhat obtuse aesthetics really conveyed the noble sentiments it was aiming for. Then came the allegations that the logo was plagiarized from the emblem of a Belgian theater.
But let’s set aside the issue of whether or not the design is a copy or not and ask another artistic question: Is the Tokyo Olympics logo actually an adorably stylized bird?
San Francisco design agency Pictogram has reimagined several Pokemon as corporate logos, joking that “since the Pokémon Corporate Personhood Act of 2015, as spearheaded by Professor OAK, Pokémon became free to start their own companies, mandating the design of Pokémon brand identities.”
Here are some of our favorites:
It’s the ultimate easter egg, the key to secret funny effects on all kinds of websites. The konami code, entered by pressing the sequence up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A, works on Twitter!
The code, which originated in video games from Japanese publisher Konami, and is called the konami komando (“konami command”) in Japanese. Twitter user @konosuke recently posted that, perusing the site’s JavaScript, he had discovered a piece of code in there that read “konami_watcher”. Intrigued, he punched in the magic code on Twitter’s timeline page and … something surprising happened! Join us after the jump for a look at Twitter’s new flippy bird!
For a country that allegedly has little contact with the outside world, North Korea somehow manages to end up in the news an awful lot. While it’s hard to tell how much of what we hear and read is true, sometimes a nugget of truth–beautiful, hilarious truth–slips through the cracks of propaganda on both sides of the ideological line and leaves us giggling.
As you’ve probably heard, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has recently unveiled the logo for their year-old space agency, NADA. Though they may have expected fanfare or at least a bit of grudging respect, the main response they got was an Internet full of giggles.
Today the marketing industry is a multi-billion dollar entity that spends countless man-hours designing and maintaining relatable brand logos. That’s why the work of pop-culture artist, Bruce Yan, is so cool. He takes characters we all know and love and uses them to recreate logos we see every day, somehow managing to give rise to a brand new and yet completely familiar logo. From the Girl Scout symbol to Morton Salt, take a look at his clever redesigns after the jump!
MOST POPULAR
Now
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
Taking the Kyoto overnight bus for the first time
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Starbucks Japan unveils second Holiday Frappuccino for 2024
Japanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
Krispy Kreme releases new zodiac doughnuts for the Year of the Snake in Japan
Forbidden area at Japanese mountaintop shrine opens to the public for first time in 400 years
Hello Kitty isn’t a cat!? We called Sanrio to find out!
Japanese balloon jellies, or “Tengu’s Treasure”, are a very unique souvenir
How to properly pronounce “Ghibli” and other fun trivia about the legendary animation studio
Weekly
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers- Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
Tokyo park’s sea of clouds, nighttime illumination, and cosplay days make now perfect time to visit
Samurai ritual suicide contest cancelled by organizer in west Japan
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Flying dango: Unique tourist site where Japanese sweets are flown to you over a gorge
American jackass tourist arrested after carving name into gate at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine【Video】
Monthly
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】- One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Tokyo Disneyland loses top-attendance crown for Japanese theme parks for second year in a row- Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】- Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
- After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too
What’s the deal with akebi, the perfectly purple, alien-like fruit that’s in season now in Japan?
Yearly
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Krispy Kreme releases new zodiac doughnuts for the Year of the Snake in Japan
Forbidden area at Japanese mountaintop shrine opens to the public for first time in 400 years
Hello Kitty isn’t a cat!? We called Sanrio to find out!
Japanese balloon jellies, or “Tengu’s Treasure”, are a very unique souvenir
How to properly pronounce “Ghibli” and other fun trivia about the legendary animation studio
Adorable cat-shaped cakes come out to play/get eaten in Tokyo
Tokyo school teaches cross-dressing men, transgender individuals to move and speak femininely
Yokohama restaurant serves fried axolotl, along with giant isopod, camel, and crocodile
Japan’s new frozen sushi DIY kit – Great foodie fun, or cold-hearted abomination?【Taste test】
Made In Japan Fender Limited Edition Hello Kitty Stratocaster now on sale in Japan
Yakuza vending machines coming to real-world Tokyo neighborhood that inspired Like a Dragon games
Japan’s caramel gacha machines offer sweet thrills, but do they deliver?
Subway Japan purchased by Japanese izakaya pub company with penchant for organic farming
-
