Organizers to keep composer for opening ceremony despite past bullying

TOKYO, July 19 (Reuters) – Tokyo 2020 organizers said on Monday they wanted Olympic composer Keigo Oyamada, who described in magazines decades ago how he bullied his classmates but did not is excused later, stays to prepare for the opening ceremony.

Oyamada, which has come under criticism in recent weeks when back issues of the magazines were released online, has been tasked with composing the music for the ceremony scheduled for July 23.

Oyamada told Quick Japan magazine published in 1995 how he locked a classmate in a cardboard box and made fun of a disabled student, the Asahi Shimbun daily reported last week. He also described his experience of bullying a classmate in another magazine published in the mid-1990s, according to the newspaper.

“He issued a statement of apology. He now regrets (what he did) greatly… we want him to stay and proceed with preparations for the opening ceremony,” said Masa Takaya, spokesperson. of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, during a briefing.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a regular press conference on Monday that he expected Tokyo 2020 organizers to deal with the issue adequately.

In the statement posted on his homepage on Friday, Oyamada, also known as Cornelius, said he felt deep remorse and responsibility.

“I offer my sincerest apologies … Back when I was in school and at the time of the interviews (in the magazine), I was a very immature man who couldn’t imagine what the people were feeling. victims, “he said in the statement.

This development is the latest in a series of headaches and embarrassments for the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics.

Former Tokyo 2020 president ex-prime minister Yoshiro Mori resigned in February after making sexist comments, while Tokyo Olympics creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigned in March after making a derogatory comment about a popular Japanese artist.

The public is largely concerned about the safety of hosting the international sporting event amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Games have been postponed for a year due to COVID-19 outbreaks, and the number of infections in Tokyo has risen again in recent weeks. Read more

Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Tom Hogue and Hugh Lawson

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