Naomi Osaka almost didn't light the Olympic cauldron, as organizing committee head wanted "pure Japanese" Hideki Matsui instead - Reports
Naomi Osaka created history last month when she became the first-ever tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron. But as per recent media reports, the Japanese was initially not deemed fit for the job by Yoshiro Mori, the former head of the organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
According to a story published by The Daily Beast, Yoshiro Mori had pushed for legendary Japanese baseballer Hideki Matsui (nicknamed Godzilla) to be the final torchbearer instead of Naomi Osaka. However, Mori was booted from his position in February after a series of sexist remarks he had made at a committee meeting came to light.
After his removal, the rest of the members had little doubt regarding Naomi Osaka's candidature for the honor of lighting the cauldron.
An employee for the committee has revealed on the condition of anonymity that Yoshiro Mori (who is also a former Japanese Prime Minister) desperately wanted Matsui to light the cauldron. The unnamed employee further claimed that Mori considered the baseballer to be a "pure Japanese", thus making him more suitable for the job in his eyes.
Naomi Osaka is considered by some to be only half-Japanese. The four-time Slam champion was born in Osaka and is a Japanese citizen, but she lives in the US and her father is from Haiti. The latter two details are often used by her detractors to claim she is not truly Japanese.
"Mori wanted 'Godzilla' to light the Olympic flame at the end, not Naomi Osaka," the employee told The Daily Beast. "Mori had told the staff: '[Matsui] is a pure Japanese man and a baseball champion in the US and Japan - the embodiment of fighting spirit'."
The employee also claimed that Mori considered Hideki Matsui's nickname - Godzilla - to be a pleasant coincidence, since he could literally breathe fire into the cauldron like the famed Japanese character.
"Funny in the sense that Godzilla breathes flames, and Matsui would be lighting the cauldron," the staffer went on.
A PR official that worked with Olympics 2021 also claims Yoshiro Mori preferred Hideki Matsui over Naomi Osaka
The Daily Beast also managed to contact an employee of Dentsu, the PR firm partnering with the Tokyo Olympics for the opening ceremony. That unnamed employee corroborated the reports that Yoshiro Mori was desperate to have Hideki Matsui as the final torchbearer.
According to the Dentsu employee, Mori's enormous power and influence usually meant he got his way even if it clashed with the opinion of others.
"Mori wanted Matsui," the employee said. "If he wanted something changed or something done, then it was done. Mori was practically the voice of God."
But fate had other ideas, as Yoshiro Mori lost his position in the organizing committee before the decision could be finalized. Around the same time, Naomi Osaka was formally offered the honor of lighting the cauldron, which she accepted.
Incidentally, Hideki Matsui was also one of the torchbearers. He was among the first to receive the flame once it made its way into the National Stadium.