Yokohama Mayor Yamanaka Announces Resignation over Harassment

(Corrects the dateline. A substitute story follows.) Yokohama Mayor Yamanaka Announces Resignation over Harassment Yokohama, Aug. 28 (Jiji Press)–Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka on Friday announced his decision to resign from office to take responsibility for a harassment scandal. “I deeply apologize for damaging trust through my behavior and causing turmoil in city administration,” Yamanaka told a news conference in the city office in Kanagawa Prefecture’s capital, close to Tokyo. Earlier Friday, he submitted a letter of resignation to the Yokohama assembly chairman, who accepted it immediately. A third-party investigative committee including lawyers late last month confirmed acts of workplace harassment by the 53-year-old mayor. According to the public offices election law, a mayoral election will be held within 50 days from the day after the municipal assembly chairman who received the resignation letter notifies the local election board. One focus will be whether Yamanaka will run again. At the news conference, he said, “I’ve made no decision at all.” On Aug. 14, three major groups in the Yokohama assembly, namely the Liberal Democratic Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, requested that the mayor resign. All three had backed Yamanaka in the 2025 Yokohama mayoral election. In addition, some assembly members tried to submit a no-confidence motion against him. First elected Yokohama mayor in 2021, Yamanaka is in his second term. In January this year, a senior city government official accused the mayor of workplace harassment. Yamanaka’s acts of harassment confirmed by the third-party committee included remarks characterizing subordinates as incompetent and human trash. The mayor admitted to the acts while expressing his wish to stay in office. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]