The panel has said the three projects, chosen from the 16 which had progressed to this stage, will be revealed in December.

Should any of the three designs breach copyright or trademarking laws, the next best project will take its place, organisers have confirmed.

Tokyo 2020 were forced to scrap their initial design of their Olympic and Paralympic logo after plagiarism allegations from the designer of the Théâtre de Liège emblem in Belgium. 

Voting for the Tokyo 2020 mascot, which will be chosen by schoolchildren, is due to begin on December 11 and conclude on January 19.

Tokyo 2020 have pledged to publish the results from each of the elementary schools across Japan which participate in the vote.

The pupils will vote from the shortlist and the design with the largest number of votes is scheduled to be announced as the winner in February. 

Although the general public have been able to enter the design contest, the names will be picked by creative professionals.

In August, Tokyo 2020 revealed they had received 2,042 designs in the mascot design competition.

There were 1,774 designs from individuals and 268 group entries, submitted before the August deadline.

Mascots are a popular element of modern Japanese culture and become a recognisable part of any Olympic Games of major sporting event.

There was no Olympic mascot at Tokyo 1964, however, as the concept had not yet been created.