The results of a public opinion survey released by Kyodo News on the 7th showed that nearly 60% of the respondents believed that the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Yoshiro Mori was “incompetent.”
Yoshiro Mori said on the 3rd that increasing the number of female directors of the Japanese Olympic Committee will consume too much time in future meetings.
This remark drew criticism from public opinion.
Kyodo News conducted a nationwide telephone survey from the 6th to the 7th and got 1,023 answers. Regarding Yoshiro Mori’s remarks that discriminate against women, 59% of the survey respondents believed that he was “incompetent” as the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, and only 6.8% thought he was competent.
Among female respondents, only 4.2% thought he was competent.
Yoshiro Mori retracted his inappropriate remarks on the 4th and apologized: “My words are contrary to the Olympic spirit and inappropriate, I apologize.” The reporter asked him if he is suitable to continue to serve as the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, and he asked “What do you think?”
Kyodo News reported that this apology press conference did not seem to dispel public dissatisfaction, but “add fuel to the fire.” Japanese netizens launched a signature activity on the “Change” website on the 4th, asking relevant parties to consider whether Yoshiro Mori is suitable for continuing to serve as the chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee.
As of the evening of the 7th, more than 128,000 signatures have been received.
However, the Kyodo News reporter noted that although Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and many other politicians criticized Mori’s improper remarks, the government and sports organizations did not ask Mori to resign.
According to Kyodo News, the attitude of the Japanese government and public opinion on this issue has shown a “temperature difference.”
The media interpreted that Yoshiro Mori has a strong influence in Japan’s political and economic circles, sports circles, and local governments, and the Japanese government is worried that changing the head of the Olympic Organizing Committee during the new crown epidemic may cause a major blow to the Tokyo Olympics.
The latest polls show that 47.1% of the respondents believe that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be postponed again, 35.2% believe that they should be cancelled, and 14.5% support holding them as planned.
In addition, the approval rate of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet fell below 40% for the first time, to 38.8%, and the disapproval rate was 45.9%.
