The creative director for the Tokyo Games' opening and closing ceremonies revealed Thursday in a letter of apology that he had submitted his resignation, in the wake of a magazine report that he made a proposal that insulted the appearance of a female celebrity.
Hiroshi Sasaki's resignation was accepted by the organizing committee for the Games, which informed the International Olympic Committee of the matter.
"I take seriously the fact that Mr. Sasaki expressed his intension to resign," organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Thursday at a press conference announcing his departure.
According to Sasaki's letter and the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, Sasaki in March last year told members of the production team for the opening ceremony that he wanted to have a female celebrity disguised as a pig appear in the ceremony. The character would be called "Olympig."
Sasaki, 66, said in his letter Thursday: "It was a very insulting idea and a mistake I cannot take back. I got carried away and came up with this idea. I have realized once again how low my awareness was and how insensitive I was. I'd like to reflect deeply on this."
The production team members objected to the idea, saying that comparing a woman to a pig was out of the question, and the idea was withdrawn.
The team was disbanded at the end of last year due to the need to simplify the opening ceremony, and Sasaki took on the new role of creative director.
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