Turns Out That Brands And Businesses In Kyoto Have To Alter Their Logos To Fit The City’s Strict Landscaping Guidelines (12 Examples)

Published 4 years ago

Kyoto is one of the oldest cities in Japan, and like many old cities, it has a few strict rules in place in order to preserve its history – especially when it comes to the city’s color palette. And it turns out that it’s not just building that have to be a specific color in order to be granted a permit – the same rules apply to many famous brands and businesses as well. In order to blend in with Kyoto’s dark brown color scheme, many of them have to alter their logos, often resulting in some pretty interesting outcomes – check out some examples below!

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The city of Kyoto in Japan has some pretty strict rules when it comes to the color palette

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

The guidelines regarding the preservation of Kyoto’s historic scenery were created back in 2007 and described in the Miyako Landscape Guidelines. The document lists all of the strict rules that define the color, height, and design of buildings, as well as rules regarding the design of outdoor advertisements.

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Most businesses operating in the area have to alter their logos to match the city’s dark brown color theme

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

According to Tsunagu Japan, the roof tiles are supposed to be silver-colored, the metal sheets (excluding copper) have to be either dark gray or black with no gloss, and the walls with R hues (according to the Munsell color system) should not exceed the value of 6. These strict guidelines ensure the preservation of Kyoto’s unique appearance.

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

The guidelines were created back in 2007, and are described in the Miyako Landscape Guidelines

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Some of the most famous brands to alter their logos are McDonald’s, Starbucks, 7-eleven, and the Japanese convenience store franchise Lawson.

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Many international brands had to alter their logos to fit the guidelines

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Some of the most famous brands that had to alter their logos include Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Hard Rock Cafe

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Uniqlo, a Japanese fashion retailer recognized by its bright red logo, found a way of making their logo blend in better by surrounding it with a white square.

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

Image credits: Victor Gusukuma

And it’s not just brand logos that had to be altered

Image credits: buraburakyoto

Many other things in Kyoto are also painted brown to match the surroundings better. This includes vending machines, mailboxes, and even traffic cones.

Image credits: buraburakyoto

Vending machines, phone booths, mailboxes, and even traffic cones had to undergo a makeover

Image credits: buraburakyoto

Image credits: buraburakyoto

Image credits: buraburakyoto

Aušrys Uptas

One day, this guy just kind of figured - "I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?" - and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that's trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that's too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!

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brand logos, different logos, Japan, Kyoto
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