February 5 Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, recently made discriminatory remarks against women, which caused a great storm in Japanese politics.
As a woman, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on the 5th that the Tokyo Olympics is facing “serious problems.”
As the first female governor in Tokyo’s history, Koike said: “The mission of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee is to prepare for a safe and secure Olympic Games, but we are facing big problems…
His (Yoshiro Mori) words shocked me. To the point of speechlessness, these remarks should not have been said.”
Yoshiro Mori, 83, complained at the Japanese Olympic Committee board meeting on the 3rd, “The meeting time with women present is too long.
And women have a strong sense of competition.
One must say one after the other.” Therefore, it is recommended to restrict women.
Time to speak at the meeting.
These remarks immediately caused great controversy in Japan, and especially angered the younger generation of Japanese women.
Many people said that this reflects the fact that the older generation of Japanese men’s discrimination against women is still deeply rooted.
Yoshiro Mori’s remarks also made the people who had hoped that the Tokyo Olympics be cancelled or postponed again to hate the Olympics.
Feeling that the situation is serious, Yoshiro Mori held an emergency press conference on the afternoon of the 4th and apologized, but he refused to resign.
Japan’s Olympic Minister Hashimoto Seiko and other cabinet ministers also expressed dissatisfaction with Mori’s remarks.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also expressed a tactful criticism of Yoshiro Mori’s remarks, but he said he has no right to demand Yoshiro Mori’s resignation.
Japan’s Olympic Committee Chairman Yasuhiro Yamashita directly accused Yoshiro Mori’s remarks as being very inappropriate and violating the Olympic spirit.
The International Olympic Committee did not want to see the situation expand. It issued a statement the day before saying that the matter “has come to an end” after Yoshiro Mori expressed his apology.
However, Yuriko Koike said: “The International Olympic Committee believes that the matter has come to an end, but I heard that many Olympic volunteers have cancelled their service intentions because of his remarks, and many people called us to protest.” When meeting with reporters later that day, Koike said that Yoshiro Mori had already apologized to her.
This is not the first time Mori has made controversial remarks.
After the Tokyo Olympics were postponed, he often said unreliable things on many major issues.
For example, he said last year that if the epidemic in 2021 remains the same as in 2020, the Olympic Games will definitely not be held. He also repeatedly hinted that the Olympic Games may be cancelled.
