Japan's Olympics Minister issues public apology for arriving three minutes late to meeting
Japan’s Olympics Minister Yoshitaka Sakurada has offered a public apology after he arrived three minutes late to a parliamentary meeting earlier this week.
According to the BBC, the minister’s “tardiness” did not sit well with other members of the parliamentary committee who considered the act “disrespectful”.
The outrage sparked a five-hour budget boycott in protest of Sakurada’s conduct.
It’s been a week to forget for Sakurada after he faced public backlash for stating he was “disappointed” in Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee after she announced she would not be able to compete at the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games following her recent Leukaemia diagnosis.
Yoshitaka Sakurada AAP
"She is a potential gold medallist, an athlete in whom we have great expectations. I’m really disappointed," he said.
The polarising parliamentary figure also drew the ire of the Japanese public in 2016 when he proclaimed he had never used a computer despite holding the office of cyber-security minister.
"I've been independent since I was 25 and have always directed my staff and secretaries to do that kind of thing," Sakurada said.
"I've never used a computer."
