With just five months and six days to go until the Olympic opening ceremony, large parts of Japan are still under a state of emergency and a vaccine has only just been approved for use here.
As if those weren’t big enough challenges to overcome, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee was plunged into scandal earlier this month after its president, Yoshiro Mori, suggested that women talk too much in board meetings, leading to his eventual resignation.
New York Times bureau chief Motoko Rich breaks down Mori's sexist comments and what his resignation says about the status of women in Japanese society.
Read more:
- Tokyo Olympics Chief Apologizes for Remarks Demeaning Women (Motoko Rich, The New York Times)
- Tokyo Olympics Chief Resigns Over Sexist Comments (Motoko Rich, The New York Times)
- Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto eyed as next Tokyo Games chief (The Japan Times)
- Activists demand reform after Tokyo Olympic sexism furor (AFP-Jiji via The Japan Times)
- How 'indispensable' Mori came to enjoy huge influence in politics and sport (Eric Johnston, The Japan Times)
On this episode:
Motoko Rich: Twitter | Articles
Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram
Motoko at the Gender Symposium Japan 2021
Motoko Rich will be joining panelists from the Asahi Shimbun and New York Times on March 3, 2021, at 3 p.m to discuss gender inequality in Japan and around the world, sharing stories to highlight challenges and progress. For more information and to register visit bit.ly/gender2021.
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