Seiko Hashimoto was appointed the new president of the Tokyo Organising Committee after stepping down as Olympic minister Thursday, replacing Yoshiro Mori after his sexist remarks led to his resignation just five months before the games are set to begin.
Tamayo Marukawa, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker in the Upper House and former Olympics minister, will retake the role just vacated by Hashimoto, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said later in the day. Marukawa served as Olympics minister from 2016 to 2017. Hashimoto stepped down from her ministerial post due to restrictions that prevent a minister from simultaneously serving as president of a public entity.
“I have supported and have been supported by the organizing committee both as an athlete and a minister, and I will continue to do so but this time in my capacity as president of the Tokyo Organising Committee,” Hashimoto said during an executive board meeting Thursday.