TOKYO (AP) – Yoshiro Mori resigned as president of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee on Friday following sexist remarks suggesting women were talking too much.
“Today I will resign from the presidency,” he said, opening an executive council and board meeting. The board is expected to elect its successor later Friday. Mori was appointed in 2014, a few months after Tokyo won the bid to host the Olympics.
“My inappropriate remarks caused a lot of chaos,” he said. He repeatedly reiterated that he regretted the remarks, but also said he “does not intend to neglect women.”
Mori’s departure comes after more than a week of incessant criticism of his remarks earlier this month. He initially 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 not clear that his resignation will clear the air and reflect the focus on exactly how Tokyo can hold the Olympics in just over five months amid a pandemic.
The Olympics open on July 23, with a month later 11,000 athletes and 4,400 more in the Paralympic Games. About 80% in recent polls in Japan say they want to have the Olympics canceled or postponed with about 15% clear support.
Early reports said the 83-year-old Mori had selected 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, the former president of the governing body of Japanese football and a former player himself. He played for Japan in the 1964 Olympics.
Kawabuchi is even older than Mori and will raise the issue of why a woman was not appointed. It is at the heart of the whole debate that Mori has caused about gender inequality in Japan and the absence of women in boardrooms, politics and sports management. Women are also mainly absent in leadership roles at the organizing committee.
Kawabuchi indicated on Thursday that Mori had contacted him and that he would accept the post if offered. But he later said he may not be the right choice, and he seems to be retiring.
Japanese media immediately pointed out that there were three qualified women – all athletes and former Olympians and at least a generation younger – who could fill the job.
Kaori Yamaguchi won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in judo. Mikako Kotani won two bronze medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in synchronized swimming. And Naoko Takahashi won a gold medal in the 2000 Olympic marathon.
Seiko Hashimoto, the current Olympic minister and a former Olympian, was also named as a candidate.
Mori’s remarks put the spotlight on how far Japan lags behind other affluent countries in promoting women in politics or the council chambers. Japan is 121st out of 153 on the World Economic Forum’s rankings for gender equality.
Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, characterized Japan as a country still ‘run by a club of old men’. But he said it could be a watershed.
“Social norms are changing,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. ” A clear majority of the Japanese found Mori’s comments unacceptable, so the problem has more to do with the lack of representation of women in leadership positions. This unfortunate episode could lead to the call for greater gender equality and diversity in the halls of power. ”
Although some on the street have called for Mori to resign – a few hundred Olympic volunteers say they are withdrawing – most decision-makers, including Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, have stood by and simply condemned his remarks.
A remark a few days ago from President Toyota Motor Corp., Akio Toyoda, apparently moved the needle.
Toyota is one of the 14 so-called Olympic TOP sponsors who pay about $ 1 billion to the International Olympic Committee each four-year cycle. The company rarely talks about politics and Toyota does not ask Mori to resign. But just talking about it might have been enough.
“The (Mori) remark differs from our values, and we find it regrettable.” Toyoda said.
Toyota and Coca-Cola are also a major sponsor of the torch relay.
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Associated Press author Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.
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