Yokohama mayor admits badmouthing subordinates as "human scum," other names

Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka admitted Friday to calling his subordinates and a city assembly member names such as "human scum" behind their backs, but pledged to exercise more self-control going forward.The verbal abuse has drawn media scrutiny as the second-term mayor was publicly accused by a senior city official, first in a weekly magazine and then at a press conference, though he denied the allegation.The mayor's problematic behavior was alleged by Atsushi Kubota, head of the city government's human resources department, who said he himself became a target of Yamanaka's verbal abuse…READ FULL ARTICLE