Frog in a Well

A man who is ignorant of the real world is called “a frog in a well does not know ocean” in Japanese proverb. The governor of Tokyo, Naoki Inose, was the frog, that skipped around New York City and then got over by a car called the New York Times. Delivering harsh words against Islamic world, Inose revealed his own innocence on problems the real world had been tackling. It is obvious that this embarrassing discriminative governor is unfit for a host of the peace festival called the Olympic games.

According to the reports in Japan, the interview was requested by Inose to sell Tokyo’s advantage to host the Olympic games in 2020. To a question on the aging population in Tokyo in comparison with growing young generation in Istanbul, Tokyo’s rival, Inose started aggressive assails, saying “Turkish people also want to live long,” “Is there any significance to have Olympic games in a Islamic state for the first time?” and “What Islamic nations share is only the God of Allah, and they are always fighting each other. They also have classes.” No, Mr. governor. You are embarrassingly wrong.

It is prohibited for a candidate of the host country to criticize another or to compare oneself with another. Inose’s remarks in the interview may violate the standard of the International Olympic Committee. One of the ministers of Turkish government released a comment, regretting Inose’s offensive words.

The more embarrassing was that Inose tried to take advantage of an influential newspaper for his cause of inviting the games. Every democratic leader knows that media is not working for one leader. Long being a vice-governor under former dictatorial governor, Shintaro Ishihara, Inose might take his job as a ruler of the world, actually a small world as it should be.

Making matters worse, Inose justified his comment, saying “My words were not reflected correctly. I extremely regret to the article different from the context of the interview.” He soon took back his argument, and apologized. “My expression was inappropriate and I want to apologize. My recognition was wrong. I want to withdraw my words,” said him. No, you can’t, Mr. governor. It’s too late.

For Inose, there have been few political agenda to sell these days, except Olympic. In his visit of New York, he met with the popular NY Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, visited subway stations to encourage the reform of Tokyo subway system, and jogged like a frog in the city to appeal his love for sports. But, he broke not only his own but everybody’s effort down with his hidden prejudice at the end of the day. Inose has to give up Tokyo’s candidacy.