TOKYO (AP) – Yoshiro Mori resigned as chairman of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Friday following sexist comments that women talk too much.
“Starting today, I will resign as president,” he said to open an executive council and a meeting. The council was expected to elect its successor later on Friday. Mori was named in 2014, just months after Tokyo won the Olympics hosting bid.
“My inappropriate comments caused a lot of chaos,” he said. He repeated several times that he regretted these remarks, but also said that he did not “intend to neglect women”.
Mori’s departure comes after more than a week of non-stop criticism over his remarks earlier this month. Initially, he apologized, but refused to step down, followed by relentless pressure from television experts, sponsors and an online petition that drew 150,000 signatures.
But it is unclear whether his resignation will clear the air and turn his attention to exactly how Tokyo can host the Olympics in just five months, amid a pandemic.
The Olympic Games will open on July 23, with 11,000 athletes and another 4,400 in the Paralympics a month later. About 80% of recent polls in Japan say they want to cancel or postpone the Olympics, with a clear support of about 15%.
Early reports said that 83-year-old Mori had chosen 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, the former chairman of the Japanese football governing body and a former player himself. He played for Japan at the 1964 Olympic Games.
Kawabuchi is even older than Mori and will question why she was not named a woman. This is the focus of Mori’s entire debate on gender inequality in Japan and the absence of women in council chambers, politics and sports governance. Women are also largely absent from leadership roles on the organizing committee.
Kawabuchi said on Thursday that he had been contacted by Mori and would accept the job if offered. But he later said it might not be the right choice and he seemed to be retiring.
The Japanese media immediately pointed out that there are three qualified women – all sportswomen and former Olympians and at least one younger generation – who could fill the position.
Kaori Yamaguchi won a bronze medal at the 1988 Judo Olympics. Mikako Kotani won two bronze medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in synchronized swimming. And Naoko Takahashi won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.
Seiko Hashimoto, the current Olympic and former Olympic minister, was also mentioned as a candidate.
Mori’s remarks emphasized how much Japan lags behind other prosperous countries in terms of women’s progress in politics or council chambers. Japan ranks 121st out of 153 in the World Economic Forum’s ranking on gender equality.
Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, described Japan as a country still run by an “old people’s club.” But he said this could be a pool of water.
“Social norms are changing,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “A clear majority of Japanese people considered Mori’s comments unacceptable, so the problem is more related to the lack of representation of women in leadership positions. This unfortunate episode may have the effect of consolidating the call for greater gender equality and diversity in the halls of power. ”
Although some on the streets have called for Mori’s resignation – several hundred Olympic volunteers say they are retiring – most decision-makers, including Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, have stopped and simply condemned his remarks.
A comment a few days ago from the president of Toyota Motor Corp. Akio Toyoda seemed to be moving the needle.
Toyota is one of 14 so-called TOP Olympic sponsors who pay about $ 1 billion in each four-year cycle to the International Olympic Committee. The company rarely rules on politics, and Toyota has not demanded Mori’s resignation. But just talking about this issue might have been enough.
“The comment (Mori) is different from our values and we find it unfortunate.” Toyoda said.
Toyota and Coca-Cola are also major sponsors of the evil torch.
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Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to the report.
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