Tokyo Olympics: Games’ opening ceremony director SACKED on the eve of the event over Holocaust jokes

Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have sacked the director of the opening ceremony just a day before the event takes place in the latest blow to the troubled Games. 

Kantaro Kobayashi, a 48-year-old comedian, was fired after a skit he performed in 1998 that made light of Nazi genocide resurfaced, including the moment he told his audience: ‘Let’s play Holocaust’. 

Seiko Hashimoto, president of Tokyo’s Olympic committee, said Kobayashi’s entire ceremony is now being ‘reviewed’ just hours before it is due to be performed, adding: ‘We’re still considering how to hold the opening ceremony tomorrow’.

However a spokesman for the Games later confirmed the ceremony would go ahead as planned with no amendments.

The comedian is just the latest big name to be sacked from the Olympic organising team this week after the opening ceremony composer was fired and a popular children’s author withdrew from a cultural event – both over historic bullying claims.

Meanwhile the number of Covid cases linked to the Games rose to 91 including more Czech and Dutch athletes amid fears the already-unpopular competition could turn into a super-spreader event.  

Table tennis player Pavel Sirucek and beach volleyball player Marketa Nausch-Slukova were the Czechs to test positive, as the country’s Olympic committee launched an investigation into the flight that brought the team from Prague.

Meanwhile Dutch taekwondo athlete Reshmie Oogink also tested positive, after skateboarder Candy Jacobs became a confirmed Covid case on Tuesday.

Sirucek and Oogink have now been ruled out of the games as they will miss their qualifying events while in isolation. The news is particularly heartbreaking for Oognik who recovered from injury to make the Olympics, and will likely not compete again.

In the unearthed sketch of Kobayashi, her performs alongside a comedy partner while pretending to be children’s entertainers. 

As they brainstorm an activity involving paper, Kobayashi refers to some paper doll cutouts, describing them as ‘the ones from that time you said ‘let’s play the Holocaust”, sparking laughter from the audience.

The pair then joke about how a television producer was angered by the suggestion of a Holocaust-themed activity.

In a statement, Kobayashi apologised, describing the skit as containing ‘extremely inappropriate’ lines.

‘It was from a time when I was not able to get laughs the way I wanted, and I believe I was trying to grab people’s attention in a shallow-minded way.’

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human rights group based in Los Angeles, said: ‘Any person, no matter how creative, does not have the right to mock the victims of the Nazi genocide. 

‘Any association of this person to the Tokyo Olympics would insult the memory of 6 million Jews and make a cruel mockery of the Paralympics.’

Hashimoto said she accepted full responsibility for hiring Kobayashi, adding that vetting should have been more thorough.

In a frank acknowledgement, she said there will be people who no longer want to watch the scandal-hit opening ceremony.

But, she added, she has no intention of stepping down and wants the event to go ahead. 

In a nod to the controversy the Games has courted, officials said Thursday that the opening ceremony has been adapted to include a segment paying tribute to all those suffering from or who have died of Covid in the last year.

An Olympic source told MailOnline: ‘There has been massive criticism of the games going ahead, particularly as spectators have been banned. 

‘The Olympics knows it cannot ignore the opposition or the fact that many of the nations are struggling with the virus back in their homelands.

‘The opening ceremony will have a segment that will state that sport can help the world to overcome adversity.

‘This was part of the rehearsal which was conducted on Wednesday.

‘It will focus on togetherness and how the youth of the world can help ease the catastrophic situation and give hope.’

Kobayashi, a well-known figure in theatre in Japan, is the latest member of the opening ceremony team to depart in disgrace.

The creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies, Hiroshi Sasaki, resigned in March after suggesting a plus-size female comedian appear as a pig – referring to her as an ‘Olympig’.

And on Monday, composer Keigo Oyamada, whose music was expected to be used at the ceremony, was forced to resign because of past bullying of his classmates, which he boasted about in magazine interviews.  

A four-minute musical piece he composed was removed from the ceremony, but organisers left it unclear Thursday how Kobayashi’s firing might affect the event.

‘We’re still considering how to hold the opening ceremony tomorrow,’ Hashimoto said. ‘I want to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.’

Details of the opening ceremony have been kept under wraps, and strict coronavirus rules mean only around 950 people will be in the stands of the 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium for the extravaganza.

That includes just 15 world leaders – down from some 40 in Rio in 2016 – with even Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister who was instrumental in getting the Games brought to the country, set to skip it.

In one piece of good news for Tokyo, US First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Tokyo on Thursday for the Games, marking the highest-profile individual to arrive so far. 

Biden is set to dine with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his wife and it is hoped may discuss getting crucial Covid vaccine supplies to Japan to boost its stuttering roll-out.  

Tokyo 2020 has been plagued by a series of gaffes and missteps by Olympic officials, including Hashimoto’s predecessor Yoshiro Mori, who resigned after claiming women speak too much in meetings.

Even before the latest series of firings, the Games were deeply unpopular in Japan with polls consistently showing a majority of Japanese do not want them to go ahead and do not expect to enjoy them.

In a recent poll, 68 per cent of respondents expressed doubt about the ability of Olympic organisers to control coronavirus infections, with 55 per cent saying they opposed the Games going ahead. 

It comes against the backdrop of rising Covid cases within the country driven by the more-infectious Delta variant which has seen Tokyo put into a state of emergency that bans large gatherings, meaning most events will take place without crowds.

On Thursday, the city reported a new daily high of more than 1,900 Covid cases – a rise of 155 per cent in a week – driven mostly by infections among the unvaccinated.

Japan as a whole reported some 5,300 Covid cases Thursday, up from 4,900 infections reported the previous day and the country’s highest toll since May 20. 

‘What we have worried about is now actually happening,’ Japan Medical Association President Toshio Nakagawa said at a weekly news conference. 

‘The surge in cases has been expected whether we have the Olympics or not, and we are afraid that there will be an explosive increase in cases regardless of the Games.’

More than 500,000 people in Tokyo have also signed petitions in a bid to stop the Olympics from being held.

Opponents vented their anger on the eve of tomorrow’s official opening with the NO OLYMPICS 2020 campaign group claiming the Games are a cynical bid to make money and gain political power at the expense of public health.

A spokesman told MailOnline: ‘We oppose the Olympic Games because they are a massive exploitation and destruction of people’s lives, livelihoods, public spaces, environment and democracy for the benefit of the IOC, the host city governments, politicians, developers and other capitalists. 

‘Tokyo Olympics has brought us many problems such as huge expenditures, evictions, and gentrification of parts of the city. 

‘Now, despite the pandemic, the Olympics are about to be forced on the Japanese people with disdain for their lives and livelihoods, and many people are against it. 

‘We strongly insist that the Tokyo Olympics should be cancelled immediately.’

Just 19 per cent of residents of the host city believe the Games can be held safely, with more than two-thirds demanding the event be cancelled, even at this late stage.

Pensioner Hideo Kora, 63, told MailOnline: ‘The Games should definitely be cancelled.

‘The number of coronavirus cases is rising and it’s not enough to hold the Games without spectators.’

Moe, 34, a businessman man, said: ‘It’s not an easy question, but if there are no spectators then I think it’s okay to hold the Games.

‘Of course, the athletes have made great efforts to participate so we should show consideration for their feelings.’

However some younger people continue to support holding the Games.

High School student Yu, 17, said: ‘I think the Games should go forward. ‘These events come along only once every four years and the athletes have trained hard. I’d feel sorry for them if it were cancelled.

Part-time worker Keisuke, 25, added: ‘I guess it’s better to hold them.

‘Although there is some impact from the coronavirus, it’s an event for the nation and the world, plus the athletes, so it’s better to continue, I think.’

The Olympic source added: ‘It is going to be hard for the athletes with no supporting crowds and somewhat surreal.

‘But in some way this will be all about natural sporting effort and it all being down to the athlete to get themselves into a medal winning position.

‘They will have to draw on, like never before, banks of energy, guile and self-determination without the roar of the spectators.’

Even with strict Covid rules in place, some 50,000 people are expected to arrive in Tokyo for the event – another sore point after Japan imposed strict border controls to keep the pandemic under control.

Japan has registered 850,000 Covid cases and 15,000 deaths to-date – relatively low figures for such a populous country.

But there are fears the Olympics could accelerate the country’s already-rising case totals because only 20 per cent of the population are vaccinated.

Already there have been 91 Covid cases linked to the Games – including among athletes, coaches, volunteers and staff.

That total only includes those who returned a positive test after arriving in Japan and does not include those diagnosed in their home countries before travelling.

The latest athlete to be hit is Czech table tennis player Pavel Sirucek who will have to withdraw from the competition to complete mandatory 10-day isolation. 

‘Today, we were informed that Pavel Sirucek has tested positive for COVID-19 and is placed in isolation,’ the International Table Tennis Federation said Thursday.

‘Pavel will be marked as Did Not Start in the table tennis competition, in accordance with the Tokyo 2020 Sport-Specific Regulations. We wish him a speedy recovery.’

The 28-year-old is ranked 52nd in the world.

It comes after Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs and Chilean taekwondo fighter Fernanda Aguirre withdrew from the Olympics after being diagnosed Wednesday. 

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, speaking at an IOC event on Thursday, acknowledged the difficulty in hosting the games during a pandemic – telling chief Thomas Bach that it is ‘not easy’ to keep infections down.

‘I express my deep respect for your efforts,’ he added.

Despite the opening ceremony taking place on Friday several competitions have already got underway, including soccer – with players from several teams taking the knee to protest racial injustice before kickoffs.

But the International Olympic Committee courted controversy after removing footage of them making the protest from highlight reels broadcast around the world – forcing a quick U-turn.

It comes after the IOC watered down a decades-old rule banning political protests from the Games after backlash from athletes.   

The concession under Olympic Charter Rule 50, which has long prohibited any athlete protest inside event venues, was finally allowed this month by the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC has tried to reconcile enforcing the rule while recognizing, and sometimes celebrating, the iconic image of American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising black-gloved fists on the medal podium at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

On Wednesday, the British and Chilean teams kneeled before the opening games and were followed by the United States, Sweden and New Zealand players in later kickoffs. The Australia team posed with a flag of Australia’s indigenous people.

Those images were excluded from the official Tokyo Olympic highlights package provided by the IOC to media including The Associated Press who could not broadcast the games live.

Official Olympic social media channels also did not include pictures of the athlete activism.

‘The IOC is covering the Games on its owned and operated platforms and such moments will be included as well,’ the Olympic body said Thursday in an apparent change of policy.

The IOC said hundreds of millions of viewers could have seen the footage watching networks that have official broadcast rights and ‘can use it as they deem fit.’

The decades-long ban on all demonstrations was eased by the IOC three weeks ago when it was clear some athletes – especially in soccer and track and field – would express opinions on the field in Japan.

Two reviews of Rule 50 in the previous 18 months by the IOC’s own athletes commission had concluded Olympic competitors did not want distractions on their field of play.

The new guidance allows taking a knee or raising a fist in pre-game or pre-race introductions but not on medal ceremony podiums. The IOC will still discipline athletes who protest on the podium.

Sports governing bodies still have a veto, and swimming’s FINA has said its athletes are prohibited on the pool deck from any gesture interpreted as protest.