After Leader’s Sexist Remark, Tokyo Olympics Makes Symbolic Shift

TOKYO — The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Thursday appointed Seiko Hashimoto, Japan’s cabinet minister in charge of the Olympics and gender equality, to replace Yoshiro Mori, 83, who resigned last week in the wake of an international firestorm over sexist remarks.

The selection of Ms. Hashimoto, 56, an Olympic medalist in speedskating, represents a stark generational and gender shift for the committee, which had initially planned to name another octogenarian male leader, Saburo Kawabuchi, a former head of the governing body for Japanese soccer, as Mr. Mori’s replacement.

Although the choice did not stray far from the establishment, both Mr. Mori’s resignation and Ms. Hashimoto’s appointment reflected the growing power of social media and Japanese activists to sway the course of what was seen as an important symbolic decision.

“In the past, he should have been just criticized, and then the issue would have ended,” said Kazuyo Katsuma, a former businesswoman and prominent author of best-selling books on gender and work-life balance, speaking about Mr. Mori. “But this time he had to resign because of a lot of criticism from women who raised their voices.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/world/asia/yoshiro-mori-tokyo-olympics-seiko-hashimoto.html