Japan has picked as mascots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics a pair of characters with a futuristic checkered pattern design similar to the official logo, with kids having made the final choice in an Olympics first, the games' organizers said Wednesday.Classrooms at elementary schools across Japan were given one vote each, with 205,755 classrooms at 16,769 schools casting ballots for the three shortlisted pairs between Dec. 11 and Feb. 22. The winning pair, which received 109,041 votes, was created by designer Ryo Taniguchi, 43, from Fukuoka Prefecture. The Olympics mascot is in…READ FULL ARTICLE
