Yoshiro Mori.Credit:AP
“When you increase the number of female executive members,if their speaking time isn’t restricted to a certain extent,they have difficulty finishing,which is annoying,” he said,as told by an Agence France-Presse translation of anAsahi Shimbun story.
“Women are competitive,” Mori added. “When one person raises a hand,others think they need to speak up as well. That’s why everyone speaks.”
Some members of the committee reportedly laughed at Mori’s remarks,which were given in response to a question about the Japan Olympic committee’s goal of having more than 40 per cent female members. Only five of 24 members were women as of November.
Mori,who served as Japan’s prime minister for a little more than a year in 2000 and 2001,has a history of offensive remarks. In January 2000,he recalled his first election campaign in 1969 with a joke about AIDS.
“When I was greeting farmers from my car,they all went into their homes. I felt like I had AIDS,” he said.
Later that year,Mori also insulted Americans while talking about their preparedness for the Y2K bug.
“When there is a blackout,the murderers always come out. It’s that type of society,” he said.