Tokyo Olympics chief resigns for inappropriate comments about women
Shiho Takezawa and Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg
Feb. 12, 2021
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Saburo Kawabuchi in 2017.Bloomberg photo by Kiyoshi Ota.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori resigned as the chief of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee after he made sexist comments that added more troubles to the virus-delayed Olympics.
Mori, 83, announced he was stepping down at an emergency meeting of the group held Friday, after he called his remarks inappropriate, and said he cannot be a hindrance to Olympics preparations.
The gaffe-prone former premier touched off a global backlash, a rare rebuke from the International Olympic Committee and criticism from crucial sponsors such as Toyota Motor Corp. after making derogatory remarks this month about women, including saying they talk too much in meetings.