- Title: Tokyo 2020 venue under fire for barring female members has no plan to change
- Date: 25th January 2017
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) CAR COMING OUT OF MAIN GATE OF KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB SIGN READING (Japanese): "KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLAYING GOLF ON FIELD EXTERIOR OF CLUB HOUSE LOGO OF KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB EXTERIOR OF CLUB HOUSE MEN DRINKING IN CLUB HOUSE RESTAURANT GENERAL MANAGER AT KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB, HIROSHI IMAIZUMI, TAKING SEAT FOR MEDIA INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GENERAL MANAGER AT KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB, HIROSHI IMAIZUMI, SAYING: "We're currently receiving no complaint about difficulties or inconvenience from our female customers because they cannot be regular members. If we get such complaint, then we can think about changing it, but there are no such things yet." IMAIZUMI TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GENERAL MANAGER AT KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB, HIROSHI IMAIZUMI, SAYING: "Regarding the criticism that we're banning women from playing on Sunday, we're actually allowing female with weekday or family membership to play on about half of all Sundays and holidays, which are about 60 days in a year, and thus, we're not completely banning female from playing on Sunday." INTERVIEW IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GENERAL MANAGER AT KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB, HIROSHI IMAIZUMI, SAYING: "We're trying now to explain and make IOC understood our policy on female members, but if we cannot convince them, then I think we can discuss about ways to resolve the problem." PIN DESIGNED WITH CLUB LOGO ON IMAIZUMI'S JACKET (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GENERAL MANAGER AT KASUMIGASEKI COUNTRY CLUB, HIROSHI IMAIZUMI, SAYING: "Only playing on the same golf course where Olympic was held is not necessarily a legacy. I think hosting the Olympic tournament on a Japanese course and letting people, especially young people, watch it and themselves start playing golf is one way to leave legacy after the Olympics." VARIOUS PEOPLE PUTTING ON GREEN
- Embargoed: 8th February 2017 11:36
- Keywords: golf olympics female members
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Golf,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00160KVVB3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:An official at Japanese golf club set to host 2020 Olympic tournament said on Wednesday (January 25) it had no plan to change its policy barring female becoming regular members.
A Japanese nonprofit group has demanded the golf tournament of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics be shifted from the Kasumigaseki Country Club which lets women play Monday through Saturday but bars them from becoming full members and from playing on Sundays.
The Japan Golf Council, unaffiliated with the sport's domestic governing body, the Japan Golf Association, said on Tuesday (January 24) that it had sent a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach proposing an alternative venue.
The council has not received a response from the IOC, but feels it is making headway after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike recently criticised the policy.
Hiroshi Imaizumi, general manager at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, told Reuters that the club had received no complaint from about 215 female Monday-Saturday members regarding the male-oriented policy.
"We're currently receiving no complaint about difficulties or inconvenience from our female customers because they cannot be regular members," Imaizumi said. "If we get such complaint, then we can think about changing it, but there are no such things yet."
The club, founded in 1929, has about 1250 regular members - all male - and another 355 Monday-Saturday male members.
"Regarding the criticism that we're banning women from playing on Sunday, we're actually allowing female with weekday or family membership to play on about half of all Sundays and holidays, which are about 60 days in a year, and thus, we're not completely banning female from playing on Sunday," Imaizumi said.
He said club was not considering changing its membership system now but would think about it if it were requested by the IOC.
"We're trying now to explain and make IOC understood our policy on female members, but if we cannot convince them, then I think we can discuss about ways to resolve the problem," he said.
Several notable country clubs have changed their policies to allow female members in recent years. In 2014, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews decided to allow women to join after 260 years of exclusion, and Augusta National, home of the U.S. Masters, ended its men-only membership in 2012.
Another criticism on Kasumigaseki being selected for the Olympics was that it's a private course out of reach of the general public to play on the Olympic-level course.
"Only playing on the same golf course where Olympic was held is not necessarily a legacy. I think hosting the Olympic tournament on a Japanese course and letting people, especially young people, watch it and themselves start playing golf is one way to leave legacy after the Olympics," Imaizumi said.
The club, one of the oldest private clubs in Japan, hosted various national competitions including 1999 Japan Women's Open.
The uproar on Kasumigaseki adds to a list of troubles for Tokyo 2020 organisers, who had recently been considering moving three other venues because of soaring costs before sticking to their planned locations at a lower price tag. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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