Scandals overshadow the Olympic opening ceremony

Just a day before the ceremony in the capital's Olympic Stadium, the organizers fired the celebration's creative director, Kentaro Kobayashi (48). The reason was a video clip of a sketch from 1998 that suddenly appeared on the Internet in which he, as a young comedian, cracked a joke about the Holocaust. Just days before, the composer of the opening ceremony, Keigo Oyamada (52), had to resign. His downfall was caused by old interviews that appeared on the Internet in which he told how he had bullied disabled children when he was at school.

The entire opening program should now be carefully reviewed again, said OK managing director Toshiro Muto on Thursday - barely more than 24 hours before the ceremony begins. Japan's head of organization Seiko Hashimoto added that they will now quickly discuss how the opening ceremony should be held and come to a conclusion “as soon as possible”. According to Japanese media reports, the show will follow the theme of "united by emotions" and include "fantastic dances" as well as elements of Japanese traditional culture such as "matsuri", exuberant folk festivals. The show wants to convey the “wa”, which stands for harmony and Japan. At the same time, it is expected that it will be a simple performance in keeping with the special circumstances caused by the corona pandemic. Bach can hardly wait It is assumed in Japan that Emperor Naruhito will declare the games open in front of only around 950 VIPs. On the day before the opening, he received IOC boss Thomas Bach in his palace. It was “not easy” to organize the games with strict Corona measures, said the monarch and expressed his “deep respect” for the work to Bach. The concept of the games, which were postponed by a year due to Corona, is “unity in diversity”. The importance of accepting people's differences such as gender, religion and abilities should be emphasized. The opening ceremony will be “very emotional” for him, Bach assured before the 205 teams marched into the Olympic Stadium. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, “the whole world will be in one place”.

Thomas Bach is looking forward to the opening ceremony. © APA/afp / FABRICE COFFRINI

After the challenges, the head of the International Olympic Committee said with a view to the opening ceremony: “If you hear some stones falling on July 23rd, then perhaps they come from my heart.” There is not much enthusiasm among the population at the start of the Games. Spectators are excluded from almost all competitions because of Corona.

Japan's organization leader Hashimoto apologized for the latest scandal. She takes full responsibility for the fact that the positions were not carefully questioned. The entertainer Kobayashi, popular in Japan, apologized. His choice of words back then as a young comedian was wrong. He is very sorry. Anti-Semitic statements In the 1998 sketch, a parody of a TV educational program, he jokes about a role-playing game with paper figures that he calls "let's play murder Jews." After the clip appeared online, Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center accused Kobayashi of “malicious and anti-Semitic jokes.” “Any association of this person with the Tokyo Olympics would insult the memory of six million Jews and make a cruel mockery of the Paralympics.” There was also criticism of Kobayashi on social media.

The well-known Japanese scientist Ken Mogi defended Kobayashi. He doesn't deserve to be so vilified for a brief comment made more than two decades ago. Kobayashi always emphasized the good and loving nature of people in his shows and never discriminated, Mogi said in a statement on YouTube. The video that suddenly appeared was inappropriate and he shouldn't have done it. “But everyone can be careless for a moment.” Kobayashi is a “truly wonderful, loving and considerate person.”

Kobayashi is the third prominent artist involved in the opening ceremony to withdraw. In March, the then creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigned from his position because of demeaning comments about a well-known Japanese entertainer. He admitted to suggesting to staff that comedian Naomi Watanabe could appear at the Games' opening ceremony dressed as a pig. In a pink costume she would then appear as an “Olympig,” joked the Japanese.

Before him, the head of the Olympic organization at the time, Yoshiro Mori, also resigned because of sexist comments. His successor Hashimoto took responsibility for the latest scandals on Thursday but does not want to resign. It is their job to make the games a “big success”. She will work for this until the end. Meanwhile, several Japanese business leaders, including the head of automobile giant and top Olympic sponsor Toyota, have already announced that they will not attend the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games. Abe isn't coming either The Japanese television station NHK reported on Thursday that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also wanted to stay away. Abe was instrumental in ensuring that Tokyo was awarded the 2013 Games despite the worsening problems in the Fukushima nuclear ruins by assuring the IOC that “everything was under control” there.

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Scandals overshadow the Olympic opening ceremony

Next expulsion, empty stands and the corona risk – overshadowed by unprecedented problems, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo will take place this Friday in front of a sparsely populated backdrop.

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