The Japan Golf Association said that "it has no issues to address despite criticism over the Tokyo Games' golf venue not extending full memberships to women and question marks surrounding its selection process," according to KYODO. Kasumigaseki Country Club is located in Kawagoe, in neighboring Saitama Prefecture, and also prohibits women from playing on Sundays. On Jan. 13, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike "cast the first stone in the debate over the membership issue." The JGA said, "There're 212 female members and there've been no complaints about the way they are treated or the rights they have. The door is wide open for female players." The IOC requested Tokyo Games organizers "address the issue and find a solution that will allow women and men equal use of the facility, citing the situation as contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games." The JGA said, "We're discussing the matter with the International Golf Association, the 2020 organizers and the country club." The Japan Golf Council, a self-described golf reform organization, last week requested that the 2020 Games Organizers "change the venue to Wakasu Golf Links in Tokyo," which is 6km from the athletes village, compared to the 44km to Kasumigaseki. The JGC, which sent a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach last month, "also took swipes at the lack of transparency under which the course was picked and the costs to be incurred by holding the event so far away." The JGA also said that "using a private course, rather than a public one, is in the best interest of the top players as well as the Games' legacy" (KYODO, 1/31).
SMOKE-FREE: REUTERS' Elaine Lies reported activists said that Japan "must make public places in Tokyo smoke-free by the time it hosts the 2020 Summer Games or risk falling afoul" of IOC rules that call for a healthy Games. Japan's health minister said that the government is "eager to stamp out smoking in public by the time the capital hosts the Olympics." But smoking "remains so entrenched there is still a cigarette vending machine in a Health Ministry annex." The IOC requires "tobacco-free" Games and all recent host cities have "passed legislation to ban smoking in indoor and enclosed public spaces, including restaurants, bars and cafes." Japanese laws "encourage restaurants and other public areas to limit exposure to secondhand smoke by setting up barriers or separate smoking and non-smoking areas, but there are no punishments for non-compliance." Smokers can currently "even light up on the grounds of schools and hospitals." Non-governmental organization Japan Society for Tobacco Control Chair Manabu Sakuta said, "The situation for preventing passive smoking in Japan is on a level with that in a developing nation." Tightening up the rules "faces strong opposition from restaurant management organizations, which fear the impact on their business." Smoking rates "have fallen in Japan due to greater health awareness and higher cigarette prices, health ministry data shows," and about 30% of men and 7.9% of women smoke (REUTERS, 1/31).
