The Japanese Olympic Committee approved 30 candidates as new board members, a list that includes JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita, at the board meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
Official approval is expected at the JOC's executive selection committee on June 25.
The JOC selected 17 new candidates, including former Sports Agency Commissioner Daichi Suzuki, 54; Olympic ski jumping gold medalist Masahiko Harada, 53 and Olympic men's gymnastics gold medalist Hisashi Mizutori, 40.
With the approval of 13 female candidates, the JOC will have reached its target to have at least 40% of its board be women. Japan Basketball Association President Yuko Mitsuya, 62; Olympic judo gold medalist Ayumi Tanimoto, 39, and Aki Taguchi, 50, who competed in three consecutive Paralympic Games in shooting, are also among the new expected appointments.
Eight external candidates were also approved, including Michiko Dohi, 55, a medical doctor at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS) and Fumino Sugiyama, 39, a transgender athlete who formerly represented Japan in fencing.
With the selections, the percentage of women as external executives is to reach its target of at least 25%.
The JOC is also to officially approve former Ambassador to China Yutaka Yokoi, 66, as a new board member, with an eye on next year's Winter Games in Beijing.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
