Nearly 15,000 entries were received before the closing date on December 7 after the process was rolled-out to all Japanese citizens over the age of 18.

The list of potential designs was then reduced to 311 in the first stage of the process, before being further narrowed to 64 in the second stage.

Twenty-one Emblems Selection Committee members will score the designs and the potential use of the logos.

A winning logo is expected to be announced in the spring, with the winning designer to be invited to the Opening Ceremonies of both the Olympics and Paralympics.

The initial choice, designed by Kenjiro Sano, was scrapped last September after Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed it resembled his Théâtre de Liège emblem.

Only designers who had won a specific design award were able to submit logos for consideration first time around.

Organisers encouraged a greater number of entries during the re-run to boost interest in the Games, but faced criticism from the American Institute of Graphic Arts for the open contest's "speculative" nature.

They object to the competition as it is not offering proper professional fees and claim that a "remarkable" design can only be the result of a designer working directly with their client.

They also argue that opening the competition to non-professionals "disrespects" the design profession and that the cash prize of ¥1 million (£5,400/$8,200/€7,600) on offer to the winner is not enough for a logo which will be seen across the world millions of times.

In a further blow for organisers, it was also revealed last month how the first round of the original selection process was fixed to ensure eight designers invited to the competition were automatically selected for the second stage.