Japanese group gives up swastika-like logo

TOKYO, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A Japanese martial arts group has decided to give up a logo that looks too much like a Nazi swastika.

Kyodo News reports that the Shorinji Kempo Federation Foundation has been using the symbol for four decades. But it has found that a symbol that looks like a reversed swastika has hampered its efforts to build strength abroad. The federation has been unable to register the symbol in the United States and a number of European countries.

The symbol is, in fact, much older than the swastika. It is a Sanskrit sign that means "good deeds" and is known in Japan as "manji."