Mr. Haruki Uemura, chairman of the All Japan Judo Federation, announced Monday that he will resign around October to take the responsibility for a series of scandals that have hit the judo organization. His refusal to step down immediately is untenable. He should take seriously the call for him to step down sooner, which members of the AJJF's regional council made the following day.
In January it surfaced that the coach of the All-Japan women's judo team used violence on female judo players during practice. The coach, Mr. Ryuji Sonoda, resigned Feb. 1.
In a separate incident, a third-party investigation committee at the end of April handed Mr. Uemura a report on the AJJF's misappropriation of funds from the Japan Sports Council (JSC). The report said the responsibility lay with Mr. Uemura as head of the judo organization.