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Olympic head's misogynistic remarks highlight Japan's persisting sexism

· Written by Nevin Thompson

Categories: East Asia, Japan, Economics & Business, Sport, Women & Gender
Nojo Momoko of No Youth No Japan

Caption: Nojo Momoko [1] (22) of No Youth No Japan [2]. In an interview on national television, Nojo asked, “Does Japan Olympic Committee chair Mori really understand what the problem is?” Screencap from ANN News official YouTube channel [3].

Sexist comments made by a former prime minister and current president [4] of the Japan Olympic Organizing Committee drew a strong backlash in Japan and around the world.

Not only did the controversy threaten to torpedo, once and for all, Tokyo's ill-fated [5] summer Olympic games, but it also highlighted the discrimination women still endure in Japan.

During a press conference on February 3, Olympic Committee chair Mori Yoshiro (83) remarked that women “talk too much [6]“:

女性がたくさん入っている理事会の会議は時間がかかります女性っていうのは競争意識が強い。誰か1人が手をあげていうと、自分もいわなきゃいけないと思うんでしょうね。それでみんな発言されるんです

Meetings of boards of directors with a lot of women take so much time [7]. […] Women have a strong sense of rivalry. If one (female) member raises her hand to speak, all the others feel the need to speak, too.

The off-the-cuff remarks ignited a firestorm. The hashtags #DontBeSilent [8], #GenderEquality [9] and #男女平等 [10] (also “gender equality”) trended on Twitter, with many people sharing their outrage at Mori's comments.

Several European embassies in Japan included the hashtags as they tweeted [11] pictures of staff raising their hands in protest [12] of Mori's remarks.

Nojo Momoko, the 22-year-old representative of No Youth, No Japan [2], a group dedicated to encouraging youth to become more active in politics, launched an online petition signed by more than 140,000 people [13] so far in just one week.

In the face of immediate criticism, Mori first defended [20] his comments by saying he “doesn't speak to women much.” He offered a complete retraction [21] but appeared to resist stepping down from his role as Japan Olympic Committee chair.

These were not Mori's first prominent public comments that were demeaning towards women. Following the recent uproar, the former head of Japan's Rugby Union, a woman, disclosed that Mori had directed sexist remarks [22] to her in 2013.

In 2014, as newly installed head of the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC), Mori criticized [23] Asada Mao, a figure skating superstar beloved in Japan, for failing to complete a triple axel at the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

During his short term [24] as prime minister in 2000, Mori made so many gaffes — some of them evocative of wartime ultra-nationalist rhetoric [25] — that there is a section [26] of his Wikipedia entry devoted to them.

Mori's government lasted for just one year before he resigned with an 8 percent [25] public approval rating. After retiring in 2012, Mori would eventually be named “supreme advisor [4]” of the Japan Sports Association.  [27]A former rugby [28] player, Mori was chosen to lead the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) in 2014 [29].

Under Mori's leadership, the JOC seems to be in no danger of being forced to listen to women. Of the 25 JOC board members, just five are women. This is despite a JOC policy target, based on a governance code for sports organizations, that at least 40 percent [30] of its directors should be women.

In fact, Mori appears unaware of how many women actually sat on the JOC board:

While Mori's remarks have been characterized [34] as an “obsolete patriarchal leadership style,” the support for Mori by men in prominent leadership positions suggests that sexist, anti-women attitudes are in fact quite normal and are the main reason why Japan is so commonly referred to as an “underdeveloped country for women [35].”

Powerful men closed ranks to protect Mori from criticism. For example, Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide (72) initially declined to comment, claiming he was unfamiliar [7] with Mori's remarks. But as the backlash continued to mount, the prime minister admitted [36] that Mori's comments were “not desirable for (Japan's) national interests,” while stopping short [37] of asking the JOC chair to resign.

Mori also received support [38] from many other notable Japanese men, including influential politician Nikai Toshihiro [39] (81), and Nakanishi Hiroaki (74), who serves as the chair of both the giant conglomerate Hitachi, and the industry lobby group Japan Business Federation (Keidenran).

Nakanishi implied that the reaction to Mori's remarks was an example of “cancel culture”:

Observers pointed out that Mori made his misogynistic comments in the presence of senior Japan Olympic Committee officials, who chuckled [42] in response.

[top] From the New York Times…

[bottom] This (above tweet) is how the Times should have reported the story.

It was revealed that Mori offered to resign because of his remarks, but the JOC instead insulated [45] him from criticism, fearing his resignation would imperil the Games. The International Olympic Commission (IOC) also at first refused [46] to criticize Mori for his remarks.

As nearly 400 [47] Olympic volunteers and two torch bearers [48] quit in protest [20], a former Olympic athlete pointed out that Mori's comments  may have violated the IOC's code of ethics:

The comments also exposed the unpopularity of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which had already been postponed from 2020 to 2021. A survey [36] conducted on February 6, three days after Mori's remarks, found that only 14.5 percent of Japanese people say the Olympics should be held as planned.

The continuing COVID-19 pandemic and Japan's slow vaccine rollout [51] pose challenges to holding the rescheduled games this year.

As the Japanese government spends 15 billion USD [54] on games that still have no clear COVID-19 mitigation strategies, an increasingly impoverished [55] class of gig workers in Japan struggles to survive. Job cuts [56] in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic have also disproportionality affected women [57].

Even women who enjoy prestigious and seemingly powerful careers may be at a disadvantage in Japan.

Mari Miura, a professor at Sophia University's Faculty of Law who specializes in gender and political science, notes [58] that the women Mori disparaged as “talking too much” are likely purposefully excluded from the decision-making process:

森さんは、場をわきまえた男性理事は会議で発言しないのに、女性は比較的、積極的に多様な発言をしている、[…] 本音の話し合いは会食などの裏の会合で行い、公式の場では決まったことに皆が従う、という流れで物事が動いてきました。

Mori thinks that in comparison to men, who know when not to speak, women are more likely to engage in discussion in formal meetings. […] However, the real discussions are held at meetings [among men] behind the scenes such as at dinners. [In formal meetings], men then agree [without discussion] what has already been officially decided.

Entrenched sexism also dissuades younger women from speaking out. Aradhna Krishna [59], a well-known marketing innovator who is professor at the Ross School of Business [60], laments that Mori's remarks, and the tacit acceptance by men in power, are an example of why women's voices are often absent: