A few years ago, a new accessory began to appear on the lapels of salarymen across Japan: a small badge, shaped like a roulette wheel and divided into 17 rainbow-colored sections. Soon, it was seemingly everywhere
An advertisement for the Itochu Sustainable Development Goals Studio’s Kids Park workshop in Tokyo, Aug. 17, 2022. With the support of Japan’s biggest business federation, Keidanren, the country has embraced the U.N. campaign to aspire to become a better place by ending poverty, improving education and reducing inequality. (Noriko Hayashi/The New York Times)
TOKYO — A few years ago, a colorful new accessory suddenly began to appear on the lapels of dark-suited salarymen across Japan: a small badge, shaped like a roulette wheel and divided into 17 rainbow-colored sections.
Soon, the logo was seemingly everywhere, proudly displayed in hip boutiques, at children’s playgrounds and on the websites of Buddhist temples.
The object of that zeal? The 17-point U.N. framework known as the Sustainable Development Goals.
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