Japan’s Kasumigaseki Country Club, the proposed golf venue for the 2020 Olympics, appears to have it all: lush fairways, meticulously maintained greens, exquisite landscapes. . .
There’s just one thing missing – equal rights for women.
The course, which is located about 30 miles outside of Tokyo, has barred women from becoming full members that would give them various rights to the club, including playing on Sundays. Because of that, the club’s Olympic hosting invitation could be rescinded.
“We made quite clear that there has to be gender equality,” International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates said in a recent interview (via the Australian Broadcasting Company) at the Asian Winter Games in the northern city of Sapporo. “If they can’t achieve the gender equality then we have to get another course.”
Coates said Olympic organizers in the country “are very confident” they can convince the club, which was founded in 1929, to give women equal playing and membership rights. He added that if the organizers couldn’t produce results, however, “there’s plenty of time to move to another golf course if we have to.”
Earlier this month, the club failed to make a decision on the matter after its board members met to discuss the 2020 Olympics. The meeting came after Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike urged Kasumigaseki to begin admitting women.
“We discussed how we should respond after we ask our members how they feel,” club chairman Kiichi Kimura said (via the Associated Press) after the 15-member board met on Feb. 8. “It’s extremely annoying the situation has evolved into what it is so quickly. Right now, we’re confused.”
Currently, about 1,000 men are full members of the club. To become a member, applicants must be referred by a current member, as well as pay more than $100,000 for full membership status.
The club doesn’t reject women entirely. While women currently can’t become full members, which would allow them to golf on Sundays, they can become junior members, a status that gives them some access to the club’s courses.
“We have always believed our policy has been very open, so we were caught by surprise,” Kasumigaseki General Manager Hiroshi Imaizumi told the AP in January.
He added: “We welcome all female players and we have no intention of creating a gender barrier.”
(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Marissa Payne
