Judo federation probes exec’s alleged sexual misdeed

For an article entitled, Judo federation probes exec’s alleged sexual misdeed against female athlete, please visit http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/24/national/judo-federation-probes-execs-alleged-sexual-misdeed-against-female-athlete/#.UZ7OrUr4ZZk

The latest - Tokyo Judo Federation / All Japan Judo Director Fukuda, 76.

Don't have my glasses can't read in detail.

【柔道】全柔連・福田理事、わいせつ問題で都連盟会長辞任

ニュースカテゴリ：スポーツ格闘・相撲

2013.5.25 19:09更新

　全日本柔道連盟（全柔連）の現職理事がわいせつ行為をしたとされる問題で、関係者の女性から被害を訴えられた福田二朗理事（７６）が２５日、東京都文京区の講道館で開かれた東京都連盟の評議員会で同連盟の会長職を辞任した。全柔連の理事についても辞意を表明しており、全柔連は特別調査チームが週明けに聞き取り調査を行った上で、６月１１日の理事会に処分案をはかる予定。

　福田理事は評議員会後、「（今回の問題を）深く考えていなかった。柔道関係者に多大な迷惑をかけたことを深くおわびしたい。女性に対しても謝罪の気持ちがある」と語った。

　福田理事は一昨年１２月、都内の地下鉄駅構内のエレベーターの中で関係者の女性に抱きつくなどのわいせつ行為をしたという。被害女性から相談を受けた元五輪銀メダリストの溝口紀子氏が２３日のシンポジウムで公表して発覚した。

While I don't need glasses to read yet, young sir , I do still rely on Rikai to decode kanji. Sad, I know.

I think I mentioned week before last about my conversation with a mutual friend at the Kodokan. I get a sense of an AJJF that knows they have a huge and complex problem, but is powerless to correct it because they seem not to know or acknowledge what the problem is. Similarly, our other mutual friend in Hakusan was fired from his job recently for calling out his general manager for diddling the OL instead of dealing with an ocean of red ink ... on the office nickel at that ... and then being too shy to call HQ in San Jose and report to HR what was going on. Lots of similarities in those stories.

So it's easy for some of us, having started in business 30 years ago or more and witnessed the arc of sexual harassment lawsuits in a litigious culture, easy for us to wonder how some sukebe ojisan can paw some sweet young thing in an elevator and think he's going to get away with it. I guess it's because there must be plenty of experience of men getting away with this behavior ... which according to the article this gentleman initially did ... I guess this was before the Sonoda saga went viral?

People whine and holler about civil lawsuits in American business, use code words like "tort reform" for efforts to limit the ability of individuals to bring legal action against companies and organizations who tolerate this kind of monkey business. Certainly ... and I have experienced this first hand ... the policies resulting from a fear of being sued is sometimes excessive, and the threshold for some individuals to seek legal remedy is sometimes too low ... financially motivated and promoted by an excess of lawyers in the field. Plus, one can never write a law or legal opinion that mandates common sense.

But you know what? At least house gets cleaned on occasion.

Rikai is great, as are other such sites.

Here's an English version from Friday. The Japanese version above is Sat, after Fukuda did resign.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-10-179690-Briefs....

Judo official admits to harassment claims

TOKYO: A director of Japan’s judo federation offered to resign on Friday over claims he sexually harassed a female judoka.

Jiro Fukuda, 76, admitted to the athlete’s claim that he forcibly hugged and tried to kiss her in the elevator of a Tokyo subway in 2011 but said that his memory of the incident is foggy because he was drunk at the time.

The offer to step down came after the federation said it would launch an investigation into the incident.

Former judoka Noriko Mizoguchi revealed the incident on Thursday at a symposium aimed at eradicating abuse in sports. Mizoguchi said the athlete, who is in her 30s, took the matter to a federation executive but saw no positive steps taken to resolve the issue.

The incident is the latest crises for judo in Japan. In January, 15 female judokas accused former national coaches of harassment and physical violence during training before the London Olympics.

In February, two-time Olympic judo champion Masato Uchishiba was sentenced to five years in prison for raping a female member of a university judo club in 2011.

Judo, literally translated as “gentle way”, was invented in Japan and was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport at the 1964 Tokyo Games.

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Alcohol involved. Imagine that....

This particular woman can probably do curls with one Billc in each hand. You gotta wonder about the mental capacity of a 76 yr old men fondling a women half his age who could probably flatten him on a good day, much less drunk and stumbling around. Maybe that would convince the judo world this is Not Good.