Japanese mayor apologises after using ‘human scum’ to insult staff
Mayor apologises for calling staff ‘useless’ and ‘low-spec’
- Takeharu Yamanaka, the mayor of Yokohama, has apologised after being publicly accused of verbally abusing his subordinates and a city assembly member.
- Atsushi Kubota, head of the city government’s human resources department, alleged that Mr Yamanaka called colleagues 'useless', 'silly', and 'low-spec'.
- Mr Yamanaka initially denied the claims but later apologised, admitting to using terms like “idiot” and “human scum”, though he denied insulting colleagues' appearance.
- The mayor defended a reference to suicide, saying it was meant to convey his ”resolve” regarding hosting an international meeting.
- Mr Kubota dismissed the mayor's apology, saying that Mr Yamanaka had failed to acknowledge all his remarks and did not truly understand the gravity of his actions.