Help Wanted for Olympic Ceremonies, Sexists Need Not Apply

(ATR) Tokyo 2020 is without a ceremonies producer with just over four months to go following the resignation of creative director SasakiHiroshi on Thursday.

The resignation of a ceremonies producer so close to the event is as unheard of for the Olympics as is the one-year postponement the Olympics and Paralympics have endured. So it goes for a world wrestling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Sasaki came under fire after the weekly Japanese magazine Shukan Bunshun published a story about derogatory remarks that he made about the appearance of popular Japanese actress and comedian Naomi Watanabe. He suggested that the full-sized performer, who was slated to participate in the July 23 opening ceremony, appear as an "Olympig" in group messages shared with colleagues in March 2020.

Tokyo 2020 presidentHashimoto Seiko said that she was unaware of the comments until the story was published and will move as quickly as possible to appoint a successor "without any impact on the implementation of the Games".

"Looking at the headline of the article I myself was shocked," Hashimoto said. "The remarks were inappropriate and very regrettable. When I became the Tokyo 2020 president I made gender equality one of the key initiatives for restoring everyone’s trust.

"To joke about the appearance that is very, very inappropriate and in the written apology Mr. Sasaki said it was an insult and apologized," she added. "This should have never happened."

Despite the setback, Hashimoto said itremains a top priority "to staging opening and closing ceremonies that convey to people worldwide the excellence sport, the attractiveness of Tokyo, Japan, and importance of diversity and inclusion."

Hashimoto is dealing with the newfound turmoil just one month after she assumed the role of Tokyo 2020 president following the resignation of former Japanese prime minister Mori Yoshiro, who made sexist remarks about women ‘speaking too much’ triggering a firestorm both in Japan and worldwide.

Hashimoto acknowledged that she had a conversation with Tokyo 2020 coordination commission chair John Coates after the incident was reported and prior to receiving a written apology and the resignation from Sasaki.

"The IOC also received the article and they were quite concerned – I talked to Mr. Coates directly over the phone and explained the facts," Hashimoto noted. "I communicated that I will listen to Mr. Sasaki and take appropriate actions."

In the statement announcing that he was relinquishing his position, Sasaki said: "For Ms. Naomi Watanabe, my idea and comments are a big insult. And it is unforgivable. I offer my deepest regrets and apologize from the depth of my heart to her, and those who may have been offended by this."

Sasaki, a former advertising executive, was promoted to the creative director position, tasked last December with redesigning "simpler and more restrained" opening and closing ceremonies .

He had received acclaim for producing the Rio to Tokyo handing over ceremony famously featuring then-Prime Minister Abe Shinzo as a character from the Super Mario video game.

The incident comes just one week before the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay in Fukushima Prefecture on March 25.

Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga announced that the state of emergency in four Tokyo-area prefectures due to COVID-19 will be lifted effective next Monday.

Reported by Brian Pinelli.