“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,”
The funny thing is, there are probably a lot of women who would affably agree with him. That’s no match for greater media scrutiny though, and he was likely pressured to apologize (I doubt he did so on his own accord). Some of his other comments have drawn criticism in the past too.
“When I was greeting farmers from my car (As Japan’s PM), they all went into their homes. I felt like I had AIDS,” he said.
(On Americans’ preparedness for the Y2K bug)“When there is a blackout, the murderers always come out. It’s that type of society,”
He also said that Japanese ice dancers Chris Reed and Cathy Reed, the children of a Japanese mother and American father who were born and raised in the United States but renounced American citizenship to compete for Japan, were “not good enough for the U.S. team in the Olympics.”
So he’s definitely from the old guard, and his abrasive constitution might at least be partially why he only served as PM for a year. But it’s kinda interesting how societal norms have changed in recent decades, even abroad in countries still known for strong nationalism. The fact he resigned may show things might be changing in Japan, but I get the impression he’d fit in with much of the ongoing toxic, brutal work culture there. Hopefully younger blood lead to further improvement in humanitarian efforts.
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