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Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Can Japan's Once-Strong Olympic Spirit Be Restored?; New JOC President Hashimoto Faces a Challenge
In June, the Japan Olympic Committee selected Seiko Hashimoto, 60, as its new president. Hashimoto is a member of the House of Councillors and a former president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. She became the first female president of the JOC not long after the International Olympic Committee elected its own first female president, Kirsty Coventry, in March of this year. How Hashimoto will revitalize the Olympic movement in Japan is a topic of great interest. The JOC presidential election was held on June 26, following the resignation of President Yasuhiro Yamashita. Since the JOC became independent from the Japan Sports Association (now the Japan Sport Association) in 1989, it has been customary for candidates to be narrowed down to a single choice behind the scenes. But this time, the selection was made by a vote for the first time in history. The three candidates were Hashimoto plus former Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima, 67, and Japan Basketball Association President Yuko Mitsuya, 66. During a closed-door board meeting, each candidate stated their goals. Hashimoto won a majority of the votes in a secret ballot by the board members. Hashimoto participated in a total of seven Summer and Winter Olympics in speed skating and cycling. At the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the women's 1,500-meter speed skating event. She has also served as a member of the House of Councillors since 1995 and is currently in her sixth term. During that time, she has served as minister for the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Within domestic sports organizations, she has served as president of the Japan Skating Federation, and vice president of the JOC. She is currently also president of the Japan Rifle Shooting Association and the Japan Cycling Federation. At a press conference after her election, Hashimoto said: 'As the first female president of the JOC, I feel a great sense of responsibility. The JOC is in crisis. I want to propose reform plans. It is our mission to demonstrate Japan's ability to host the Olympics again and prepare for it.' The Olympic movement in Japan certainly is in crisis. Following the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2021, corruption and collusion scandals surrounding the Games were exposed, tarnishing the Olympic brand. In the aftermath of this, Sapporo, which had been bidding to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, announced in October 2023 that it was withdrawing its bid. In December of the same year, the city also announced the 'suspension' of future bid activities. Considering this situation, three Japanese companies — Toyota Motor Corp., Panasonic Holdings Corp. and Bridgestone Corp. — withdrew from the IOC's top-tier sponsorship program, allowing their contracts to expire last year. This marks the first time that there are no Japanese companies as top-tier sponsors. Japan's presence in the international Olympic movement has never been weaker. Traditionally, Japan has been the non-Western country that best understands, participates in, and supports the Olympic movement. Jigoro Kano, the founding father of judo, was elected the first Asian member of the IOC in May 1909. Japan made its Olympic debut at the fifth edition of the Games, the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Furthermore, Japan hosted the first Olympics ever held in Asia in Tokyo in 1964, followed by a second Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It also hosted the Winter Olympics in Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano in 1998. With a total of four Summer and Winter Olympics, Japan ranks third in the world in terms of the number of times it has hosted the Games. Only the United States, with eight Games, and France, with six, have been Olympic hosts more often. The latest Tokyo Olympics were particularly challenging, as they were postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were held mostly without spectators. In May of this year, Thomas Bach, the former president of the IOC, visited Japan to attend a ceremony at which he received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. He praised the Tokyo Olympics, saying: 'The fact that the Games could be held was largely due to Japan's values of strength in the face of adversity and a sense of responsibility. In that time of crisis, we delivered the most precious gift of hope to the world.' He also expressed his gratitude in Japanese, saying, 'Thank you very much, everyone.' However, even though the Tokyo Games were highly praised around the world, they became a catalyst for dampening the Olympic movement in Japan due to corruption scandals. Bach was among the people who encouraged Hashimoto to run for JOC president. During his May visit, he told her: 'The president of the JOC should be an Olympian. Seiko must run for the presidency.' One reason Sapporo's bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics failed was a lack of coordination between the JOC and the IOC. This strong encouragement from the IOC leadership must have motivated Hashimoto to run for president. Upon taking office, Hashimoto wasted no time in taking action. On Aug. 6, she and other JOC executives attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, held on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of that city. The purpose was to reflect on the Olympics' role in promoting a peaceful society through sports. It was the first time the JOC had participated in such an event. Hashimoto took part in a moment of silence at 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb was dropped, and offered a prayer at the memorial cenotaph. She stated: 'The IOC is committed to promoting lasting world peace. As an organization that walks alongside the IOC, the JOC is dedicated to contributing to peace, and it is with this mindset that we attended the ceremony.' Hashimoto was born on Oct. 5, 1964, five days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics that year. Her given name, Seiko, is said to have been chosen in reference to the Olympic flame, called 'seika' in Japanese. Having participated in seven Summer and Winter Olympics, Hashimoto has been called the 'child of the Olympics.' In a sense, she is poised to be a key figure in the revival of the Olympic movement in Japan. As the first female president of the JOC, and someone who is deeply connected to the Olympics, will she be able to spark a movement to bring the Olympics and Paralympics back to Japan? We look forward to seeing what she will accomplish. Political Pulse appears every Saturday. Yuji Kondo Yuji Kondo is a senior writer in the Sports Department of The Yomiuri Shimbun
Qatar Tribune
28-07-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
QOC President meets senior sports officials on sidelines of World Aquatics
H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Senior Vice President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), on Monday met with Ms. Seiko Hashimoto, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, H.H. Prince Fahd bin Jalawi, Vice President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Otabek Umarov, First Vice President of the Uzbek Olympic Committee, in separate meetings held on the sidelines of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. The meetings focused on ways to enhance sporting cooperation between the Qatar Olympic Committee and its counterparts in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. They also included an exchange of views on key issues currently facing the Asian sports landscape, particularly in the areas of athlete development, capacity building, and the exchange of technical and administrative expertise. The discussions also addressed the ongoing preparations for the upcoming Asian Games in Nagoya 2026 and the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh 2025, highlighting opportunities for joint cooperation to ensure the successful organization of both events in alignment with the aspirations of the Asian sporting movement. These meetings form part of a broader series of bilateral engagements led by H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani with leaders of the Olympic movement across the continent. They aim to foster stronger ties and knowledge-sharing among National Olympic Committees and contribute to the continued growth and development of sport in Asia at both regional and international levels.
Qatar Tribune
28-07-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
QOC president meets several sports officials on margins of World Aquatics Championships
President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and First Vice-President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani held separate meetings on Monday with President of the Japanese Olympic Committee Seiko Hashimoto, HRH Vice-President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee Prince Fahad bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, and First Vice-President of the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan Otabek Amrulov, on the margins of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships currently held in Singapore. Throughout these meetings, they explored ways to enhance sports cooperation between QOC and its Japanese, Saudi, and Uzbek counterparts and shared perspectives on the foremost sport issues on the Asian stage, particularly in the areas of athlete development and exchange of expertise at the technical and administrative levels. In addition, the meetings tackled the ongoing preparations for the Asian Games Nagoya 2026 and the Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh 2025, and addressed avenues for joint cooperation to organize these events in a manner that aligns with the aspirations of the Asian sports movement. These deliberations were part of a series of bilateral meetings Sheikh Joaan holds with leaders of the Olympic movement in Asia in the pursuit of strengthening bilateral cooperation, sharing expertise among national Olympic committees, and advancing Asian sports on the regional and global stages.
Japan Forward
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Forward
Fix the JOC Before Hashimoto Talks of Hosting Olympics Again
The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) has elected Seiko Hashimoto as its new president. Hashimoto, who has participated in seven Olympic Games herself, is a member of the Japanese Diet's House of Councillors. The shambolic failure of the Sapporo Winter Olympics bid is still fresh in people's memory. Therefore, many members of the public have turned their backs on the JOC. Although Hashimoto, 60, is the first female JOC president, she must steel herself for the difficult road to regaining trust. For the past decade, Japan's sports world has lacked the willingness to become actively involved in decision-making. With a few exceptions, the design and operation of the governance system for sports organizations has been left entirely to the national government. That includes discussions on hosting the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021. Seiko Hashimoto after her election as the new president of the JOC on June 26. (©Sankei by Kazuya Kamogawa) In her inaugural press conference as president, Hashimoto declared that hosting the Olympics in the future was her "mission." However, it is difficult to claim that the current JOC is qualified to carry that banner into the fray. Until now, it has been left to the athletes to explain in their own way why Japan needs the Olympics. Despite the athletes' best efforts, momentum for Japan to host the Olympics again has not been building. If Hashimoto is really intent on changing public opinion, it will not be sufficient for her to simply speak in platitudes. That the JOC held its first election for president is certainly a step forward. There were three candidates on the ballot: Hashimoto, former Japan Football Association president Kozo Tashima, and JOC vice president and Japan Basketball Association president Yuko Mitsuya. Hashimoto was elected by a secret vote. Nevertheless, the public should know what the three candidates were advocating. For example, what were their respective plans for rebuilding organizations that have lost their reason for existing? How did they propose to change society through sports? Also, couldn't the JOC find ways to extend the screening process before the final vote, such as having the candidates face off in open debates? Former president Yasuhiro Yamashita is currently recovering from an injury and has not been seen in public for over a year and a half. Therefore, there was no compelling rationale for rushing to name a new president now. Holding an in-house election that cut the effort and time required amounted to nothing more than a half-baked reform. Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto (left) and JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita announce their decision not to bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, on October 11, 2023, in Shinjuku, Tokyo. (© Sankei) In 1989 the JOC became independent from the Japan Amateur Sports Association (now the Japan Sports Association), which had strong ties with the government. The original ideal was for the JOC to achieve independence from politics as well as economic independence. Yet, isn't the result of the recent presidential election a contradiction? The new president has a responsibility to explain what she thinks about the distance between the sports world and the government. Nor should we forget that Hashimoto was also involved in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party scandal involving the failure to report party income from political fundraising. If she really aims to restore trust in the JOC, Hashimoto must be prepared to exercise discipline in the performance of her duties. Then she can start talking about bringing the Olympics back to Japan. (Read the editorial in Japanese .) Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun
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Nikkei Asia
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Seiko Hashimoto breaks Japan's Olympic glass ceiling
Sports Former Cabinet minister becomes first woman to head nation's Olympic committee Seiko Hashimoto speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on June 26. Her political background is not unusual in Japan's sports world. © Kyodo MASAKO HARA TOKYO -- Seiko Hashimoto, a seven-time Olympian and former Cabinet minister, was last week elected as the first woman president of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC). Nicknamed the "Child of the Olympic Games," Hashimoto was born in 1964 just 5 days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. Her name is derived from seika , the Japanese word for the sacred Olympic flame. A rare dual-sport athlete, she competed in four consecutive Winter Olympics in speed skating from 1984 to 1994 (winning a bronze medal in 1992) and three straight Summer Olympics in track cycling from 1988 to 1996.
