TOKYO (AP) – Yoshiro Mori resigned as chairman of Tokyo’s Olympic organizing committee on Friday after sexist comments implying that women talk too much.
“As of today I will resign as president,” he said to open an executive board and a board meeting. The board was expected to choose his successor later Friday. Mori was appointed in 2014, just months after Tokyo won the bid to host the Olympics.
“My inappropriate comments have caused a lot of chaos,” he said. He repeated several times that he regretted the remarks, but also said he had “no intention of leaving women out.”
Mori’s departure comes after more than a week of non-stop criticism over his statements earlier this month. He initially apologized, but refused to walk away, which was followed by relentless pressure from TV experts, sponsors and an online petition that attracted 150,000 signatures.
But it is unclear whether his resignation will clear the air and he will return to focus on exactly how Tokyo can hold the Olympics in just over five months amid a pandemic.
The Olympics will open on July 23, with 11,000 athletes and 4,400 more at the Paralympics a month later. About 80% in recent polls in Japan say they want the Olympics to be canceled or postponed with clear support at around 15%.
According to initial reports, 83-year-old Mori had chosen Saburo Kawabuchi, 84, a former chairman of the governing body of Japanese football and a former player. He played in Japan at the 1964 Olympics.
Kawabuchi is even older than Mori and will raise the question of why a woman was not named. This is the focus of all the debate Mori unleashed about gender inequality in Japan and the absence of women in boardrooms, politics, and sports governance. Women are also largely absent from leadership roles on the organizing committee.
Kawabuchi indicated Thursday that Mori had contacted him 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 were three qualified women, all athletes and former Olympians and at least one younger generation, who could take the job.
Kaori Yamaguchi won a bronze medal at the 1988 Judo Olympics. Mikako Kotani won two bronze medals at the 1988 Olympics in synchronized swimming. And Naoko Takahashi won a gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Olympics.
Seiko Hashimoto, current Olympic minister and former Olympian, has also been mentioned as a candidate.
Mori’s statements have highlighted the extent to which Japan lags behind other prosperous countries in promoting women in politics or boardrooms. Japan ranks 121st out of 153 in the World Economic Forum’s gender equality ranking.
Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, characterized Japan as a country still run “by an old people’s club.” But he said this could be a watershed.
“Social norms are changing,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “A clear majority of 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 may have the effect of reinforcing the call for a greater gender equality and diversity in the chambers of power “.
Although some on the street called for Mori’s resignation (several hundred Olympic volunteers say they are retiring), most decision-makers, including Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, stopped and simply condemned their statements.
A comment a few days ago from Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda seemed to move the needle.
Toyota is one of 14 so-called TOP Olympic sponsors who pay about $ 1 billion each four-year cycle to the International Olympic Committee. The company rarely talks about politics and Toyota did not call for Mori’s resignation. But just talking about the issue would have been enough.
“The comment (Mori) is different from our values and we find it unfortunate.” Said Toyoda.
Toyota and Coca-Cola are also the main sponsors of the torch relay.
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Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.
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