TOKYO — In the days since the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee ignited a fierce backlash by asserting that women talk too much in meetings, more than half of the Japanese public agreed in a poll that he was “not qualified” to lead. One of Japan’s most prominent Olympic hopefuls, Naomi Osaka, said his comments were “really ignorant.” Editorials in two of the country’s largest newspapers called for him to resign.
Yet after making a brief apology, the Tokyo 2020 chairman, Yoshiro Mori, 83, remains the face of Japan’s effort to pull off the most important event on the international sports calendar.