Sexism remains broader issue

TOKYO • Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori resigned on Friday and apologised again for sexist remarks that sparked a global outcry, leaving the Olympics searching for a new chief five months from the opening ceremony on July 23.

The 83-year-old former prime minister sparked a furore when he said during an Olympic committee meeting this month that women "talk too much". He initially refused to step down.

A selection committee made up of an equal number of men and women would choose a new president, the group's chief executive Toshiro Muto said.

"We need to pick the next president urgently," he said, without saying when, adding that the new chief needed a "really high-level understanding" of gender equality, diversity and inclusion.

The issue has focused global attention on gender disparity in Japan. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe championed a policy of "Womenomics" but activists and many women say the country still has a long way to go - especially in the workplace.

Several hundred Olympic volunteers have withdrawn since Mori's comments, which prompted a petition calling for action against him that has nearly 150,000 signatures. "My inappropriate comments caused big trouble. I'm sorry," Mori said on Friday.

He fanned the flames a day earlier by asking the mayor of the Olympic Village, 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, to take over the job. That triggered widespread public dismay about the post going to another male octogenarian and the media later reported that Kawabuchi turned the job down.

Female lawmakers in opposition political parties also wore suffragist white to Parliament on Wednesday to protest Mori's remarks.

"We can't give the impression that things have changed unless we install a woman or see a generational shift," a government source told broadcaster Fuji News.

The gender imbalance issue is prevalent in Japan, which ranked 121st out of 153 nations surveyed in the World Economic Forum's 2020 global gender gap report.

There are also just seven women among the Tokyo 2020 organising committee's 35 board members.

"They think it's a game where they just invite another friend of theirs to take leadership," said Kazuna Yamamoto of gender equality campaign group Voice Up Japan.

Ms Seiko Hashimoto, a pioneering female lawmaker, the Cabinet minister for the Olympics and seven-time Olympian, was among the candidates to replace Mori, media said. One source involved in the Games, who requested anonymity, claimed that many officials want a woman to replace Mori.

During her career as an athlete, Hashimoto, 56, took part in both the summer and winter Olympics in speed skating and cycling, and also served as vice-president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

But she said that she had not been asked to replace Mori.

Lully Miura, a political scientist of Yamaneko Research Institute, believes that picking Hashimoto would be a right choice.

She added: "What society needs to do now is train women within organisations and make them stronger by constantly maintaining diversity."

Campaigners gave a cautious welcome to the about-face, but warned only a complete shake-up would bring about real change.

One of the student activists behind the petition that had called for Mori's resignation believes that his stepping down will not by itself solve the problems of sexism in Japanese society.

"If this finishes with the resignation, it will be perceived as only a Mori problem," said Momoko Nojo, who leads a group called No Youth, No Japan. "I think it's a problem with the people in the organising committee... who laughed when he made the comment, and the people who overlooked it. The problem will not be solved unless the nature of the organisation changes.

"There are still a lot of discriminatory and prejudiced comments being made in organisations all over Japan. And there are still a lot of people who cannot say 'no' to them."

Kanae Doi, director of Human Rights Watch in Japan, said she hoped that activists could build on the moment and introduce better monitoring of sexual harassment and abuse in sports, as well as more gender parity in general.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, herself a pioneer as the capital's first female leader, avoided a direct answer when asked who Mori's successor should be. She said, however, the person should embody Olympic ideals of inclusivity and be somebody the world can accept.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES