“If there are a lot of women, the meeting takes a long time”

Yoshiro Mori (83), chairman of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee, has made a demeaning remark at the meeting, and calls for resignation from both inside and outside are coming. Another bad news broke out as it was unclear whether the Tokyo Olympics were held due to Corona 19.

On the 3rd, Yoshiro Mori, the chairman of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, said, “If there are many women, the meeting will be longer.” [EPA=연합뉴스]

According to Kyodo News, Chairman Mori said at the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) temporary council meeting held on the afternoon of the 3rd, referring to the issue of increasing the number of female directors, “a board of directors with many women takes time.”

At this meeting, with 51 people, including online participants, the goal was to set the ratio of female JOC directors to more than 40%. Currently, there are 25 JOC directors, of which 5 are female, accounting for 20%.

A booklet published by the Tokyo Olympic Paralympic Organizing Committee [AFP=연합뉴스]

However, Chairman Mori said, taking as an example of the Japan Rugby Association, where the number of female directors has increased, “it takes twice as long as before.” He also added, “Women have a strong sense of competition, so if someone raises their hand and speaks, they seem to think that they must also speak,” he added. “So everyone will speak.”

Some say that if the number of female directors is increased, the speaking time must be regulated to some extent, otherwise the meeting will seldom end and it will be difficult.

It is said that the remarks passed without any objection, such as a sound of laughter among the participants at the conference.

However, as the domestic and foreign media raised the issue, there were voices on the Internet urging him to resign.

The New York Times reported in an internet version that Mori, who served as prime minister, said the remarks were “provoked intense anger.”

The Tokyo Shimbun said, “It is a remark of the chief executive officer who runs a sports festival that invites athletes from all over the world to be suspicious of the ears.” He pointed out that his remarks are contrary to the Olympic spirit aiming for gender equality.

A German swimmer who is scheduled to participate in the Tokyo Olympics is training. [AFP=연합뉴스]

According to the Tokyo newspaper, the proportion of female athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics is expected to account for 48.7%. The Tokyo newspaper added, “At the Olympics, we are focusing on realizing gender equality by increasing the sports that men and women compete with, such as mixed relays for athletics and swimming, mixed doubles for table tennis and badminton,” he added. .

AFP news agency also delivered related news, pointing out that Japan ranked 121st out of 153 countries last year in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Equality Index.

Locally, Mizuho Fukushima, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (Social Democratic Party) and others, strongly criticized Chairman Yoshiro Mori’s remarks.

Chairman Mizuho Fukushima strongly criticized Chairman Mori’s remarks. [트위터]

On the 4th, head of Fukushima tweeted, “It is not reasonable to say that there is only such a discrimination against women in a situation where we do not know whether or not we will be able to play the Olympics due to the novel coronavirus infection.” .

Constitutional Democratic Party member Renho who fought with Prime Minister Suga at the National Assembly on the 27th of last month. [사진 렌호 홈페이지 캡처]

Congressman Renho, who served as the representative agency of the Constitutional Democratic Party, the 1st opposition party in Japan, was also angry, saying, “Please do it in moderation.” He criticized, “It’s an Olympic spirit to understand each other without any discrimination, but it’s a shame.”

Reporter Seo Yujin [email protected]