Mori resigns after sexism controversy

TOKYO, Japan (AP):

Yoshiro Mori resigned as the president of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee yesterday after sexist comments made last week in which he said women “talk too much”.

The resignation of the former Japanese prime minister at an executive board meeting has left a mess in its wake. And it comes just over five months before the postponed Olympics are to open in the middle of a pandemic, with public sentiment overwhelmingly against the Games. The pandemic is one reason, and the soaring costs are the other.

The executive board did not immediately choose a successor for Mori, which Chief Executive Officer Toshiro Muto said would come “as soon as possible” and will be made by a review committee. He called it a “single-digit body” made up equally of men and women, and he repeatedly declined to give a specific timeframe.

Muto also declined to say if Mori’s replacement would be a woman. Gender inequality in Japan is exactly the issue that was raised last week by Mori’s demeaning comments, and what drove his ouster. Women are largely absent in the boardroom and in top politics in Japan, and Muto acknowledged that the organising committee has too few women in leadership roles, and no women at the vice-president level.

“For myself in selecting the president, I don’t think we need to discuss or debate gender,” Muto said. “We simply need to choose the right person.”

SEIKO HASHIMOTO

The front runner is probably Seiko Hashimoto, the government Olympic minister who was also a bronze medallist in speedskating in the 1992 Albertville Games. She checks all the boxes — female, a former Olympian, and she gas been around the organising committee.

Any pick will be tricky.

On Thursday, 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, the former head of the governing body of Japanese football, gave interviews and said he had talked with the 83-year-old Mori and was likely to be his successor.

That news – that another elderly man was taking over – exploded Thursday night on national television and social media. A few hours later, Kawabuchi withdrew his candidacy at the board meeting and told Muto to make it public.

“He (Kawabuchi) is not thinking of becoming president, even if he is asked, he will decline,” Muto said.

Mori’s departure comes after more than a week of non-stop criticism about his remarks earlier this month. He initially apologised but refused to step away, which was followed by relentless pressure from television commentators, sponsors and an online petition that drew 150,000 signatures.