Head of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Seiko Hashimoto on Thursday dismissed the opening ceremony director, Kentaro Kobayashi, citing remarks and jokes he made about the Holocaust. The move comes just one day before the Games are set to begin.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
According to local media reports, the incident that got Kobayashi was not recent, rather it took place in 1998 when, during a television s sketch, Kobayashi referred to some paper doll cutouts as "the ones from that time you said 'let's play the Holocaust.'"
"It came to light that during a past performance, [he] used language that mocked a tragic fact of history," German news outlet Deutsche Welle cited Hashimoto as saying. "The organizing committee has therefore decided to relieve Kobayashi of his post," she added.
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics is set to take place on Friday. The Games, plagued by the global coronavirus pandemic, will be held for the most part without spectators, but some 950 people will be allowed to attend the opening ceremony.
Kobayashi, a former comedian who is a well-known figure in Japanese theater, apologized in a statement.
"In a video that was released in 1998 to introduce young comedians ... a skit that I wrote contained lines that were extremely inappropriate," he said. "It was from a time when I was not able to get laughs the way I wanted, and I believe I was trying to grab people's attention in a shallow-minded way."
Earlier this month, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee dismissed the ceremony's composer Keigo Oyamada after he said in an interview that he had bullied his disabled classmates in the past.
In March, the ceremony's creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigned after his plans to have a plus-size entertainer Naomi Watanabe float into the stadium as an "Olympig" sparked anger. He later apologized for the "huge insult" to her.
Hashimoto herself was named the Tokyo Olympics chief after the previous president, Yoshiro Mori, was forced to step down over sexist remarks he had made about women.
Mori, 83, was quoted as saying "women talk too much" and that meetings with many female board directors would "take a lot of time."
The remarks set off a firestorm of protest. Mori apologized at the time but said he would not resign, but later stepped down, saying, "What is important is to hold the Olympics from July. It must not be the case that my presence becomes an obstacle to that."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
