Heads are rolling in the Japanese Olympic movement. After Tsunekazu Takeda, the president of the national Olympic committee, forced to resign over suspicions of corruption, another high-flying leader disappears from the landscape.
Yoshitaka Sakurada, Japan's Olympic minister, has announced his resignation from Shinzo Abe's government. He leaves his office with no hope of returning.
In question, a “blunder” by the political leader, but with radical consequences. Yoshitaka Sakurada forgot his usual reserve during a fundraising operation, organized earlier in the day on Wednesday in favor of Hinako Takahashi, a parliamentarian from Iwate, one of the most affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. The Olympic minister said that support for Hinako Takahashi in her MP campaign was now more important than efforts to rebuild the region.
The formula is unfortunate. It cost him his place. Yoshitaka Sakurada offered his resignation to Shinzo Abe. The Prime Minister accepted it. Then he apologized for his minister's remark to the population of the disaster zone, emphasizing his government's desire to increase efforts and initiatives for the reconstruction of the most affected prefectures.
« As Prime Minister, I apologize to all those in the affected areas, said Shinzo Abe. I am responsible for naming him. »
Yoshitaka Sakurada is not his first verbal slip-up. The now former member of the government has even already carved out a solid reputation as a goofball.
Last November, he admitted without an ounce of humor that he never uses a computer. In itself, nothing against the law. But Yoshitaka Sakurada also held, with his portfolio as Olympic minister, the position of head of the national cybersecurity strategy. The Japanese media criticized him without restraint.
In February 2019, he was forced to apologize after commenting on the leukemia diagnosis of young Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee, a six-time Asian Games gold medalist, saying: disappointed ". He had suggested that his illness risked dampening Japanese enthusiasm for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
He was also slapped on the wrist for arriving late to a parliamentary session, dressed in an outfit deemed inconsistent with the etiquette of the place.
Yoshitaka Sakurada's office will not remain empty for long. Shinzo Abe announced to the media this Thursday morning in Tokyo his decision to appoint Shunichi Suzuki to replace him. A strange way to close the parenthesis, the new holder of the post having preceded Yoshikata Sakurada as Minister of the Olympic Games.
470 days before the opening of the Olympic Games, turbulence continues in Japan. Tsunekazu Takeda, the historic president of the national Olympic committee, will hand over his keys next June. The IOC has already removed him from its list of members. Now it's Yoshitaka Sakurada's turn to leave the stage. A bad series.
