YOKOHAMA - Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka was found to have abused his authority on multiple occasions to bully his subordinates and verbally assault them, a third-party investigation report released Thursday by the city government showed.
The report said Yamanaka told staff members they would be "sidelined" and "purged" regarding personnel matters, behavior that constituted improper exercise of authority designed to psychologically pressure and control staff.
It concluded that this was a "serious abuse of power that undermines dignity, causes mental distress, and worsens the workplace environment."
A senior city official, then head of the human resources department, publicly accused the mayor in a press conference in January, saying he himself suffered from Yamanaka's verbal abuse.
The report determined that the mayor's remarks such as telling the official to "disembowel" if he failed to secure a bid to host an international conference, as well as behavior like yelling and throwing documents constituted workplace bullying.
Yamanaka also slandered other members of staff, calling them variously as "useless," an "old lady" and "human scum," remarks that the report determined to be personal denigration and misogyny.
The investigation also reported multiple cases of sick leave for adjustment disorders and other mental distress suffered by city employees.
In March, the Yokohama City Council solicited three lawyers recommended by the Kanagawa Bar Association to conduct the investigation, which included interviews with staff and the mayor himself.
In a survey targeting 746 people, including former employees, more than 60 percent of the 294 who responded said they had witnessed or heard about behavior they suspected amounted to abuse of authority.
Yamanaka, 53, became Yokohama mayor in 2021 and was reelected for a second term last August.
