With just five months and six days to go until the Olympic opening ceremony, large parts of Japan are still under a state of emergency and a vaccine has only just been approved for use here.

As if those weren’t big enough challenges to overcome, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee was plunged into scandal earlier this month after its president, Yoshiro Mori, suggested that women talk too much in board meetings, leading to his eventual resignation.

New York Times bureau chief Motoko Rich breaks down Mori's sexist comments and what his resignation says about the status of women in Japanese society.

Read more:

On this episode:

Motoko Rich: Twitter | Articles

Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram

Motoko at the Gender Symposium Japan 2021

Motoko Rich will be joining panelists from the Asahi Shimbun and New York Times on March 3, 2021, at 3 p.m to discuss gender inequality in Japan and around the world, sharing stories to highlight challenges and progress. For more information and to register visit bit.ly/gender2021.

Announcements:

Sign up to the Deep Dive mailing list and be notified every time a new episode comes out. Get in touch with us at [email protected].

Support the show! Rate us, review us and share this episode with a friend if you've enjoyed it. Follow us on Twitter, and give us feedback.

This episode of Deep Dive may be supported by advertising based on your location. Advertising is sourced by Audioboom and is not affiliated with The Japan Times.