Tokyo: The director of the show for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics has been sacked for a few decades of comedy matches that refer to the Holocaust, the organizer said Thursday, in the latest punch for pandemic-delayed matches.
Kentaro Kobayashi made a comment on the video sketch that came from 1998 which appeared online on the night of the Friday Ceremony.
“It’s up to that during the past shows, (he) use a language that mocked tragic historical facts,” said the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Chief Seiko Hashimoto to reporters.
“The organizing committee has decided to alleviate Kobayashi from his position,” he added.
Sketches, Kobayashi and comedy partners pretend to be a pair of free children’s TV entertainers.
When they brainstorm an activity involving paper, Kobayashi refers to some paper doll cutouts, describing them as “which since then you said ‘Come on playing Holocaust”, triggering laughter from the audience.
The couple then joked about how a television producer was angry with the suggestion of the Holocaust activity.
Sketch trigger shocks from several in Japan.
“It is inevitable that they will face a fire ball,” wrote one online viewer, even though the others questioned the reaction to the two decades’ sketches.
In a statement, Kobayashi apologized.
“In the video released in 1998 to introduce young comedians …
a play that I wrote contains very inappropriate lines,” he said.
“It was from one time when I couldn’t laugh as I wanted, and I’m sure I tried to attract the attention of people in a shallow-minded way.” Kobayashi, a famous figure in theater in Japan, is the newest member of the opening ceremony team to depart with disgrace.
On Monday, a composer for the ceremony resigned after opening an old interview where he described the misuse of a disabled school friend.
The creative director for the opening and closing ceremony, Hiroshi Sasaki, also resigned in March after suggesting a female comedian plus size as pigs.