New Japanese MOD logo

I present the newly adopted Japanese Ministry of Defense logo. A call went out resulting in 767 submissions, of which the above — designed by MIURA Masato — was chosen. Can you feel the élan? The honour? The distinction? My god… from the Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere to a green dude hugging the Earth. This seems more like a logo for the Environment Ministry. Then again maybe I shouldn’t be surprised... And maybe the dude shouldn’t be green but rainbow-coloured. The MOD should have got the guys that did this ad to do the logo. This is truly sad. I mean, even ze Germans have a kick ass logo. I have collected a few defence logos from around the world for your enjoyment and wonder:

Defence logos from around the world


COMMENTS / 19 COMMENTS

[...] guys over at Coming Anarchy have written an informative post about the logo of Japan’s newly-established Defense [...]

17 Fearsome Defense Ministry Logos From Around The World added these pithy words on Jul 29 07 at 4:09 am

[...] to Younghusband, the Defense Ministry requested design ideas for the new logo from the public and 767 designs were [...]

The Signs of Japanese Imperialism at ROK Drop added these pithy words on Jul 31 07 at 10:36 pm

[...] guys over at Coming Anarchy have written an informative post about the logo of Japan’s newly-established Defense [...]

Ultimate Stupidity » Blog Archive » 23 Fearsome Defense Ministry Logos From Around The World added these pithy words on Aug 31 07 at 3:48 pm

[...] ad uses the slogan “Make peace your job,” and features the Defense Ministry’s globe-hugging logo. Can you feel the [...]

Japan Self Defense Forces advertise on Mixi | Japan Probe added these pithy words on Jul 10 08 at 6:30 am

Have drugs been legalized in Japan? I dont know what they were smoking when they came up with that =)

Chirol added these pithy words on 27 Jul 07 at 4:23 pm

Looks like someone who’s pregnant. Writing “Defense” under it makes me think it’s an ad for safe sex.

Hyalucent added these pithy words on 27 Jul 07 at 5:08 pm

You shouldn’t be surprised. Have a look at the ã?¾ã‚“ã?Œã?§èª­ã‚€é˜²è¡›ç™½æ›¸å¹³æˆ?18年版

p.s. YH, my HTML is rusty, so please fix that link if it needs it!

Saru added these pithy words on 27 Jul 07 at 5:51 pm

How about Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense Logo
[img]http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/rok/2002/guocguon.gif[/img]

Brian added these pithy words on 27 Jul 07 at 7:07 pm

The ad is very cool – traditional but effective. The music was stirring, and the shot of the tanks roaring along the road with helos above particularly effective.

strategist added these pithy words on 27 Jul 07 at 11:34 pm

Well, at least no one could accuse that logo of summoning up Tojo…

andres kahar added these pithy words on 28 Jul 07 at 2:35 am

That logo is all SysAdmin—your Mom’s army, or rather Self Defense Force. It does look like Mom giving the world a hug. Not what you do with guns, usually, which are not a snuggly type of artifact.

Finding a way to present the SysAdmin side of things without being wimpy is a challenge which has to be understood, let alone solved.

The TV add is all Leviathan. And Leviathan is guy stuff, and cool: Tanks, rockets, big gnarly ships, helos. But, how useful is any of it?

Lexington Green added these pithy words on 28 Jul 07 at 5:26 pm

The logo is not that bad. The old-fashion sharp, pointed sticks crossed underneath some mean-looking bird is old and nasty.

R. Elgin added these pithy words on 29 Jul 07 at 12:18 am

Lex, good observation. I wish I could find the original call for submissions, to see what kinds of things the MOD requested. It would be interesting to see what keywords they used. I looked around but couldn’t find anything.

The one thing I don’t like about it as a design, is it is too modern — Adobe Illustrator gradients are soooo 2005. I would’ve gone with something more timeless. Also, the font is a terrible pic. Rounded edges!? This logo was definitely designed for your mom.

Younghusband added these pithy words on 29 Jul 07 at 12:41 am

@Strategist: if you want to see some more lame recruiting ads check these out. The Simpsons parody ad at the end is pretty sweet (robotic King Arthur turns into attack helo and blows up Jason Voorhees before dropping off kicking Army rock band in a packed stadium… just what I thought the Army was all about!)

Younghusband added these pithy words on 29 Jul 07 at 9:15 am

Unless it actually depicts the “giant” of Japan with the world in a stranglehold…

Jimm added these pithy words on 30 Jul 07 at 2:33 am

“My god”¦ from the Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere to a green dude hugging the Earth. ”

Hmm… Kinda reminds me of this Marvel Comics “alternate history” story:

http://www.atomicavenue.com/atomic/IssueDetail.aspx?ID=227940

http://www.hulknews.com/alterniverse/wi_2_71.php

“Unless it actually depicts the “giant”? of Japan with the world in a stranglehold”¦”

Maybe that’s what Eamonn Fingleton would think….

Jayson added these pithy words on 30 Jul 07 at 3:40 am

Seems fine to me.

Matthew added these pithy words on 31 Jul 07 at 4:06 pm

I think Jimm may have an interesting point there. Japan’s military is in a very delicate place right now. They want a strong but also apparently “soft” image.

In other news, the Japanese sense of design aesthetic is a little different to, say, mine. Go over to Tokyo and have a look at their magazines and ads – very cluttered.

Cameron added these pithy words on 31 Jul 07 at 11:48 pm

This is awesome I never seen such a ‘zen’ style logo that can mean so much like this one You can feel that this is the new era of ministry of defence, not to kill and start the war (like some country did now!) but to keep this world in peace. That’s so great!

So much of Asain’s philosophy! So cool!

Lepetitekitty added these pithy words on 07 Nov 07 at 2:15 am

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A sign of defence?

Posted on 27 Jul 07 by Younghusband. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 19 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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