*The head of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee has apologised for making "inappropriate" remarks about women, after calls for his resignation.
Yoshiro Mori retracted the comments but said he was not planning to stand down.
The Games chief, 83, was earlier quoted as saying women talk too much and that meetings with many female board directors would "take a lot of time".
The International Olympic Committee told Reuters it considered the "issue closed" following the apology.
Japan's Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto said she wanted to hold "thorough discussions" with Mr Mori, a former Japanese prime minister.
"The Olympics' fundamental principle is to promote women's advancement in sport at all levels and organisations in order to realise gender equality," she said, according to local media.
Mr Mori made the remarks at Wednesday's meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee.
The committee board currently has 24 members, five of whom are women.
to be continued...
