Why harassment scandals continue engulfing Japan’s local leaders
Former Yokohama mayor Takeharu Yamanaka bows to supporters in Yokohama on Sunday. | JIJI
Oct 19, 2026
For months, Yokohama’s two-term mayor and former university professor, Takeharu Yamanaka, fought to contain a scandal over his mistreatment of city employees. He eventually resigned last month, then sought a fresh mandate.
But on Sunday, voters rejected his comeback bid and elected a female newcomer. Lawyer Atsumi Harasawa won 552,207 votes, more than twice that of Yamanaka, who finished third.
A third-party report released in July detailed conduct ranging from insults to intimidation. Yamanaka referred to officials as “human scum” and “useless,” the report stated, and he spoke of committing seppuku, or ritual suicide, if his city failed to secure an international conference on African development.
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