Tokyo’s Top Organizing Olympic Games apologizes for sexist remarks that women talk too much in meetings

Tokyo’s Top Organizing Olympic Games apologizes for sexist remarks that women talk too much in meetings

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Mori, a former prime minister, made the comments on Wednesday during an Olympic Games council. Asked about the purpose of the Japanese Olympic Committee to increase the number of women on the board of directors from 20% to 40%, Mori said he was concerned about how it would affect the duration of the meetings.

He apparently said that ‘council meetings with many women take longer’ because ‘women are competitive. If one member raises his hand to speak, others think they should speak too, ‘according to reports in the Japanese press. “It is alleged that you will be in trouble if you want to set a time limit,” he said.

The 83-year-old Mori confirmed during a news conference on Thursday that he made the remarks behind closed doors and said he was sorry for that.

“I acknowledge that my remark was an inappropriate expression yesterday and was contrary to the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics. I very much regret it,” he said. “I want to withdraw my comment and apologize to the people I made unpleasant.”

The remarks sparked an immediate firestorm in Japan, where women frequently experience gender discrimination in the workplace and when looking for positions of power.

The gender gap in Japan is ‘by far the largest among all advanced economies’, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Gender Gap Gap report. The report ranked Japan 121 out of 153 countries, partly due to the findings that women make up only 5.3% of the board members in listed companies and only 10% of the members of parliament, one of the lowest levels of female political representation in the world.
Mori said he was not considering retiring, but the debacle is likely to be a major distraction for the organizing committee, which has the challenging task of tackling the Games in less than six months as Japan struggles to increasing the number of coronavirus cases. The Summer Olympics were delayed last year due to Covid-19, and experts said it may not be possible to postpone the event again.
A poll by national broadcaster NHK last month found that 77% of people in Japan think the games should be canceled or postponed further. However, Japan’s leaders have promised that the Games will be held. The positive attitude comes despite rumors about its cancellation and the logistical hurdles that hamper such a major event in the midst of a public health crisis.

The country’s medical system has been overwhelmed in recent days due to an increase in Covid-19 cases, with ten hard-hit prefectures in a state of emergency. As of Wednesday, more than 8,700 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in those areas were waiting to be relocated to a hospital or isolation facility because the government no longer had room. Some who are waiting to be relocated have mild symptoms, or not at all.

CNN’s Selina Wang and journalist Chie Kobayashi reported

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