The official sportswear to be worn by the Japanese national team at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics was unveiled on Friday. Athletes and others in a total of 55 Olympic and Paralympic sports will wear the outfit at award ceremonies and around the Athletes' Village.
With the theme of "Japonism," the sportswear uses "sunrise red" as its main color to symbolize the dynamism of the rising sun.
It took about four years to design and produce the sportswear, taking opinions from athletes into account. About 4 tons of sportswear donated nationwide was recycled. A mesh structure provides a high degree of ventilation to deal with Japan's severe summer heat.
Hikaru Mori, 20, who is expected to compete in the women's trampoline, said, "I want to wear this item confidently and do my best."
The new sportswear is produced by Kobe-based major sporting goods maker Asics Corp., which also provided the official sportswear at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.
The company will offer 17 items, including long-sleeved podium jackets, T-shirts, shorts, shoes and bags.
The sportswear incorporates traditional Japanese designs and techniques such as origata folding methods. In addition to dots and lines of various sizes, five shades of red are combined to express patterns. Each T-shirt has its own unique pattern to represent diversity.
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