Keigo Oyamada Resigns. "The Olympic Organizing Committee's Fault in Trying to Ignore the "Bullying Problem

(Japanese original version is posted to Diamond Online on July 20, 2021)

                                       Masato Kamikubo,
                                      Professor of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University

Abstract
Keigo Oyamada, who was in charge of the music for the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, has suddenly announced his resignation. The reason for this was that he had confessed in a magazine interview that he had been bullied as a student in the past, and this had caused a firestorm on the Internet. But this is not the only problem. What became apparent this time was the Organizing Committee's lack of awareness of human rights issues.

The Organizing Committee Stood on the Side of the Perpetrators and Asked for "Understanding.
In a magazine interview 25 years ago, Mr. Oyamada spoke of his experiences as a student, locking his classmates in a box and making fun of a student with a disability, as a "saga. In response to the criticism, he posted an apology on Twitter, but the firestorm spread further when he announced that he would continue to produce music and would not resign. Finally, he announced his resignation.

Before Mr. Oyamada's resignation, Toshiro Muto, Secretary General of the Organizing Committee, said at a press conference, "He has fully apologized and regretted his actions. I hope that he will continue to support and contribute to the organization." He asked for understanding of Mr. Oyamada's decision to continue.

What exactly did Mr. Muto want us to understand? Wasn't it the perpetrators who lacked understanding?

The Bullied Can't Forgive as "It's in the Past. Do Victims Have to "Keep Quiet and Put Pp with It"?
It has been pointed out that for victims of bullying, the aftereffects of the bullying are even more serious than the bullying itself. After escaping from bullying, they do not have peaceful days. After the bullying is over, the person may have flashbacks of the bullying and sometimes develop "aftereffects" such as dissociative disorders that cause the person to take on a different personality.

The aftereffects often make it impossible to lead a peaceful daily life. It can even lead to suicide. It also causes long-term hardships to the family and people around the person who support them.

On the other hand, those who gain temporary pleasure from bullying often do not know the suffering of the victims and their families. They often live a normal life and recognize the victim as a good friend.

In other words, bullying may be temporary for the perpetrator, but for the victim, it is a lifelong suffering.

"Bullying aftereffects occur after the bullying has ended and the victim has distanced themselves from the perpetrator. Therefore, it is very difficult to prove the causal relationship between bullying and post-bullying syndrome. Even in cases of suicide caused by bullying, it is well known that there are great difficulties in proving this. More than that, the aftereffects of bullying cannot be appealed to anywhere. Victims and their families have no choice but to endure in silence.

Therefore, it is not enough to "apologize" for bullying. For the victims and their families, it is impossible to forgive as a thing of the past. It is an ongoing suffering.

"People with disabilities also cannot forgive the perpetrators as a thing of the past. Many of them may have been bullied. Even so, they have overcome various difficulties in their daily lives. The people who have supported the disabled have also gone through a great deal of hardship, as if they were giving up their own lives.

I read the full text of Mr. Oyamada's confession of bullying and found it to be full of horrible derogatory remarks. This is not a question of whether there are any violations of the Olympic Charter. I felt that it was a direct challenge to the Olympic Charter.

How did the organizing committee tell the victims of bullying, the disabled, and their families that they should "understand and support" Oyamada's decision to continue composing the opening ceremony music? Did the organizing committee tell them that they would have to put up with listening to music composed by a man who denies his own existence in order to host the Tokyo Olympics, a major national project?

The organizing committee had once decided that Oyamada would continue. I don't want them to pretend that nothing happened just because Mr. Oyamada resigned from his post.

Countries around the World are Now Sensitive to Human Rights
What I would like the organizing committee to strongly recognize is that countries around the world are now very sensitive to the human rights situation.

In fact, the European Parliament of the European Union has adopted a resolution calling on member countries to decline invitations of government representatives and diplomats to the Beijing Winter Olympics next February unless China improves the human rights situation in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The British House of Commons has also adopted a resolution calling on the government to refuse to invite British government representatives to the Olympics unless the human rights situation in Xinjiang is improved.

Furthermore, just a few days ago, it was reported that President Moon Jae-in has decided not to visit Japan. In South Korea, there is a growing movement to denounce bullying that goes back to the past.

In South Korea, there is a growing movement to denounce bullying that goes back to the past. And Oyamada's confession of bullying has been picked up by the British and other foreign media one after another.

With the utmost sarcasm, I would like to say that the Organizing Committee should be prepared to accept any criticism and run the Olympics, as it has repeatedly made the mistake of being seen by the world as a country that disregards human rights.