Yokohama Mayor Accused of Power Abuse

Yokohama, Jan. 15 (Jiji Press)–Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka was accused Thursday of abusive remarks and inappropriate behavior toward city officials and assembly members. Atsushi Kubota, 49, head of the human resources department at the Yokohama municipal government, held a press conference in the city in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, to call for an investigation into the mayor’s conduct. It is unusual for a senior local government official, identified by name, to publicly accuse a local government leader. At the press conference, Kubota claimed that Yamanaka, 53, allegedly sent work-related messages to his personal smartphone late at night and on holidays, yelled at and threw papers at him, and told him to commit “seppuku,” or a form of ritual suicide by disembowelment, if the official failed to invite an international conference to Yokohama. The mayor allegedly made derogatory remarks about the city assembly speaker, the deputy mayor and others, such as “fat,” “die” and “human scum.” These allegations were reported in the online edition of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine Sunday. Yamanaka released a statement on his website expressing disappointment following the Shukan Bunshun report, but has not responded to reporters’ questions on the matter as of Thursday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]