Airi Murakami (Photo by Shinichi Chubachi)
A top female rugby player, who has earned a cap on the national team, has made it publicly known that she has a same-sex partner.
“There was a time when I kept my sexual orientation to myself,” said Airi Murakami, who plays for the Yokogawa Musashino Artemi-Stars. “But after I met with people who embrace me for who I am, I came to want to behave as my true self and have others know me for who I am.
“I hope to be a catalyst, the next time around, for other troubled athletes, female or male.”
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As criticism rages over Tokyo Olympic chief s sexist remarks, officials defend his post The Mainichi
TOKYO The public backlash over sexist remarks by Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee, to the effect that meetings with many women drag on, has shown no signs of abating in Japan or abroad.
At home, a signature drive calling for Mori s resignation, among other demands, advanced mainly by young people via social media, has collected more than 85,000 names so far.
Some Japanese government officials and those within the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee defended the 83-year-old Mori on Feb. 5, but media and other parties overseas underscored the criticism.
Jan 15, 2021
The Japan Rugby Football Union announced Friday that a total of 25 teams including 12 top-division clubs will participate in the new domestic top circuit scheduled to kick off in January 2022.
After initially estimating that the first division would comprise between eight and 12 clubs, the sport’s national governing body chose the larger number based on the expectation that it would be able to offer close, competitive contests to the fans.
Mayumi Taniguchi, the director of the new league’s development office, said that the decision had been made to start with 12 teams after studying recent Top Team seasons and determining that a bigger division would contribute to high-quality play.