{"id":11412,"date":"2013-04-27T10:57:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T20:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11412"},"modified":"2013-04-27T12:11:48","modified_gmt":"2013-04-27T22:11:48","slug":"nyt-violating-ioc-rules-tokyo-gov-inose-bad-mouths-other-2020-olympic-bidders-particularly-istanbul-for-being-islamic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11412","title":{"rendered":"NYT: Violating IOC rules, Tokyo Gov Inose bad-mouths other 2020 Olympic bidders, particularly Istanbul for being “Islamic”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0We’ve talked about Tokyo’s Olympic bids for 2016<\/a> and 2020<\/a> before on Debito.org (I see them as basically a vanity project for Japan’s elite ruling class to convince themselves that the outside world is still paying attention to them, especially after successful bids in Beijing 2008 and Pyeongchang (South Korea) 2018). \u00a0But here’s an interesting development:<\/p>\n

According to the New York Times, Tokyo Governor Inose Naoki (a good writer and analyst<\/a>\u00a0(see also here<\/a>)\u00a0before he became Vice-Governor then Governor, and from whom I expected more intelligence and sophistication) is taking cheap shots at other Olympic bidders, violating IOC rules. \u00a0Particularly at Istanbul for its religious and ethnic\/economic composition, Inose has said, “Islamic countries, the only thing they share in common is Allah and they are fighting with each other, and they have classes”. \u00a0He also said that other countries lack “Tokyo’s excellent sense of hospitality”.<\/p>\n

Funny, that. \u00a0As if Japan does not have classes of its own based upon economic clout or connections to a ruling elite<\/a>. \u00a0And of course, there’s the frequent claim by Japan’s promoters of lack of infrastructure and development elsewhere. \u00a0Never mind how that infrastructure doesn’t seem to be taking care of its hundreds of thousands of victims and homeless after the Tohoku Disasters more than two years afterwards<\/a>.
\n<\/object><\/p>\n

(More on\u00a0how irredeemably broken Japan\u2019s system is<\/a>\u00a0in fact\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>, and\u00a0here<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

But you see, we’re not holding the Olympics in Fukushima. \u00a0And we’ll take advantage of Fukushima by trying to claim a sympathy vote for Tokyo in their stead<\/a>. \u00a0Also never mind that unfettered discrimination against domestic minorities in a society also violates the Olympic Charter<\/a>. \u00a0So much to see when you scratch the surface.<\/p>\n

There were some subsidiary arguments about Japan’s aging society, which Inose turned on their head to say that healthy seniors are the sign of a healthier society. \u00a0That’s fine — that’s just boosterism. \u00a0But then he violates IOC rules again by denigrating: \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sure people in Turkey want to live long. \u00a0And if they want to live long, they should create a culture like what we have in Japan. There might be a lot of young people, but if they die young, it doesn\u2019t mean much.\u201d<\/p>\n

See what I mean about a lack of sophistication? \u00a0I guess the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree (as Inose is an Ishihara Shintaro protege<\/a>, and Ishihara is a bonafide bigot<\/a>\u00a0(see also here<\/a>). \u00a0Or else Inose has been so steeped in the dominant discourse of Japan being a unique and peerlessly rich, homogeneous, developed society, that he actually has come to believe it himself. \u00a0Hence the blind spots cluttering his analysis. \u00a0Put it down to the effects of being steeped in affluence and power.<\/p>\n

As submitter MH notes about what he calls Inose’s “idiotic, xenophobic and downright racist comments”, “One doesn’t have to extrapolate too far to see how a racist landlord or real estate agency might feel a certain (ingrained) justification for banning foreigners<\/a>.” \u00a0Quite. \u00a0So much for Japan’s “excellent sense of hospitality”. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

In Promoting His City for 2020 Games, Tokyo\u2019s Bid Chairman Tweaks Others<\/strong>
\n By KEN BELSON<\/strong>
\n The New York Times: April 26, 2013, courtesy of MH<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/04\/27\/sports\/in-praising-its-olympic-bid-tokyo-tweaks-the-others.html<\/a><\/p>\n

With less than five months to go before the International Olympic Committee chooses a city to host the 2020 Summer Games, the three remaining bidders \u2014 Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo \u2014 are increasing their efforts to win over delegates and the public.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Olympic committee\u2019s rules prohibit bid committee members from directly criticizing other bids. Instead, the bidders often highlight the perceived strengths of their bids to note delicately what they believe to be their rivals\u2019 shortcomings, something known in the communications industry as counter-positioning.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Naoki Inose, the governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and chairman of the Tokyo 2020 bid, has often done that, highlighting his city\u2019s extensive and efficient transportation system, as well as the financial and technical wherewithal to build first-class sports sites and housing for the athletes. He has also noted that, like Paris and London, Tokyo has hosted the Summer Games before, a claim that Istanbul and Madrid cannot make.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But Inose has also pushed the boundaries of rhetorical gamesmanship with occasionally blunt and candid statements about how his city compares with the competition, particularly Istanbul, which he has suggested is less developed and less equipped to host the Games.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the athletes, where will be the best place to be?\u201d Inose said through an interpreter in a recent interview in New York. \u201cWell, compare the two countries where they have yet to build infrastructure, very sophisticated facilities. So, from time to time, like Brazil, I think it\u2019s good to have a venue for the first time. But Islamic countries, the only thing they share in common is Allah and they are fighting with each other, and they have classes.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Asked later to elaborate on his characterization of Istanbul, a spokesman said Inose meant that simply being the first Islamic country to hold the Olympics was not a good enough reason to be chosen, just as being the first Buddhist country or the first Christian country would not be, either.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The spokesman said Inose did not mean to refer to \u201cclass.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Istanbul is an Olympic finalist because it is an international city in one of the fastest-developing countries in the region. A member of NATO, Turkey straddles Europe and Asia and is a bridge between Christianity and Islam. With its emerging middle class, Turkey has become a political and economic powerhouse in the region.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is Istanbul\u2019s fifth bid to host the Olympic Games. In a statement, the city\u2019s bid committee declined to address comments made by rival bidders.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIstanbul 2020 completely respects the I.O.C. guidelines on bidding and therefore it is not appropriate to comment further on this matter,\u201d the statement said.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The International Olympic Committee does not look kindly on overtly harsh attacks by bidders, and occasionally it sends letters of reprimand to those who break with protocol, former bidders said.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Article 14 of the Rules of Conduct for bidders<\/a>: \u201cCities shall refrain from any act or comment likely to tarnish the image of a rival city or be prejudicial to it. Any comparison with other cities is strictly forbidden.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Though untoward comments rarely disqualify a bid, they could raise doubts in the minds of I.O.C. delegates about the trustworthiness of a bidder.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason the rule is there is that if someone deviates from it, it triggers a chain reaction,\u201d said Mike Moran, chief spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee from 1978 to 2002 and a senior communications counselor for New York\u2019s bid for the 2012 Summer Games. \u201cThe I.O.C. is very serious about their protocols.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Moran added that negative comments by bidders would probably not hurt a bid, although \u201cyou never know how a comment might influence those I.O.C. members.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

At several points in the interview, Inose said that Japanese culture was unique and by implication superior, a widely held view in Japan. He noted that the political scientist Samuel P. Huntington wrote in his book \u201cThe Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order\u201d that Japan was unlike any other culture.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Inose also pointed to polls that showed 70 percent of Tokyoites in favor of hosting the Summer Games, up from 47 percent last year. The well-received London Games, he said, have helped generate enthusiasm and confidence that Tokyo can host a similarly successful event.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tokyo, he added, is exceptional because the Imperial Palace, which is largely off-limits to residents and visitors, forms the city\u2019s core while bustling activity surrounds it. \u201cThe central part of Tokyo has nothingness,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a unique way that society achieved modernization.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Inose brushed aside the notion that Olympic delegates may favor Istanbul\u2019s bid because Turkey has a far younger population than Japan and thus is fertile ground for developing the next generation of Olympic enthusiasts. While population growth has stalled in Japan, the population of Tokyo has grown because of an influx of younger people, he said. He added that although Japan\u2019s population is aging, its elderly are reasonably healthy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to say that if you are poor, you have lots of kids, but we have to build infrastructure to accommodate a growing population,\u201d Inose said. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that seniors need to be athletic. If you\u2019re healthy, even if you get older, health care costs will go down. The average age is 85 for women and 80 for men, so that demonstrates how stress-free\u201d Japan\u2019s society is.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure people in Turkey want to live long,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd if they want to live long, they should create a culture like what we have in Japan. There might be a lot of young people, but if they die young, it doesn\u2019t mean much.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Inose has drawn distinctions between Japan and other cultures in other settings, too. When he visited London in January to promote Tokyo\u2019s bid, he said Tokyo and London were sophisticated and implied that Istanbul was not.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mean to flatter, but London is in a developed country whose sense of hospitality is excellent,\u201d Inose told reporters. \u201cTokyo\u2019s is also excellent. But other cities, not so much.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve talked about Tokyo’s Olympic bids for 2016 and 2020 before on Debito.org (I see them as basically a vanity project for Japan’s elite ruling class to convince themselves that the outside world is still paying attention to them, especially after successful bids in Beijing 2008 and Pyeongchang (South Korea) 2018). But here’s an interesting development: According to the New York Times, Tokyo Governor Inose Naoki (a good writer and analyst before he became Vice-Governor then Governor, and from whom I expected more intelligence and sophistication) is taking cheap shots at other Olympic bidders, violating IOC rules. <\/p>\n

Particularly at Istanbul for its religious and ethnic\/economic composition, Inose has said, “Islamic countries, the only thing they share in common is Allah and they are fighting with each other, and they have classes”. He also said that other countries lack “Tokyo’s excellent sense of hospitality”. Funny, that. As if Japan does not have classes of its own based upon economic clout or connections to a ruling elite. <\/p>\n

And of course, there’s the frequent claim by Japan’s promoters of lack of infrastructure and development elsewhere. Never mind how that infrastructure doesn’t seem to be taking care of its hundreds of thousands of victims and homeless after the Tohoku Disasters more than two years afterwards. But you see, we’re not holding the Olympics in Fukushima. And we’ll take advantage of Fukushima by trying to claim a sympathy vote for Tokyo in their stead. Also never mind that unfettered discrimination against domestic minorities in a society also violates the Olympic Charter. So much to see when you scratch the surface.<\/p>\n

There were some subsidiary arguments about Japan’s aging society, which Inose turned on their head to say that healthy seniors are the sign of a healthier society. That’s fine — that’s just boosterism. But then he violates IOC rules again by denigrating: \u201cI\u2019m sure people in Turkey want to live long. And if they want to live long, they should create a culture like what we have in Japan. There might be a lot of young people, but if they die young, it doesn\u2019t mean much.\u201d<\/p>\n

See what I mean about a lack of sophistication? I guess the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree (as Inose is an Ishihara Shintaro protege, and Ishihara is a bonafide bigot). Or else Inose has been so steeped in the dominant discourse of Japan being a unique and peerlessly rich, homogeneous, developed society, that he actually has come to believe it himself. Hence the blind spots cluttering his analysis. Put it down to the effects of being steeped in affluence and power.<\/p>\n

As submitter MH notes about what he calls Inose’s “idiotic, xenophobic and downright racist comments”, “One doesn’t have to extrapolate too far to see how a racist landlord or real estate agency might feel a certain (ingrained) justification for banning foreigners.” Quite. So much for Japan’s “excellent sense of hospitality”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,36,22,26,4,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-business-practices","category-bad-social-science","category-cultural-issue","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japanese-government","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}