New Olympic Minister Coming for Japan

(ATR) A series of blunders leads to the resignation of Olympic Minister Yoshitaka Sakurada.

The latest gaffe came Wednesday at a party for a legislator from one of the cities struck by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. In remarks at the soiree Sakurada said the ruling party legislator was more important than the reconstruction effort in the affected region.

Sakurada submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he realized a retraction would not save face.

Abe apologized for the comments of the minister, reiterating the support of his government for reconstruction of the disaster region.

"As prime minister, I offer an apology to everyone in the disaster-hit areas," Abe said. "I have a responsibility for having appointed him."

In his short time as Olympic Minister Sakurada has made multiple gaffes which have been highlighted by the Japanese press.

In February, he was forced to apologize after saying that he was worried that swimming gold medal hopeful Rikako Ikee's leukemia diagnosis would hurt Japanese interest in the 2020 Games.

In November, the Asahi Shimbun reported after a press conference that the Minister had a "knack for giving baffling replies" to questions about the Olympics. Sakurada was asked about North Korean officials potentially attending the 2018 Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Tokyo despite a travel ban for North Korean citizens to Japan.

"I am not aware of [the report] at all, and I don’t know," Sakurada said at the time before an aide handed him a piece of paper.

"I gained knowledge of that through officials," Sakurada then said.

A week later Sakurada admitted he did not use a computer, despite pushing for a cybersecurity bill that would come into effect for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"Since the age of 25, I have instructed my employees and secretaries, so I don’t use computers myself," Sakurada told Japanese parliament, according to a report from The Guardian.

Sakurada actually addressed this quote to Around the Rings in a written interview, saying "I make appropriate decisions by hearing advice from experts and cooperating with my staff who have knowledge of cybersecurity".

Shunichi Suzuki, who held the post last year prior to Sakurada, is said to be in line for the seat.

Although Tokyo was awarded the Olympics in 2013, the government did not include an Olympics Minister until Suzuki took the post when it was created in 2015.

Reported by Ed Hula.

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