<p>A female Japanese politician has resigned after an audio tape emerged of her violently attacking a male secretary, and reportedly threatening to crush his head with a lead pipe.<br /><br />Mayuko Toyota, a 42-year-old Harvard graduate and up- and-coming member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), can be heard screaming at the unnamed aide, saying he should die as she mocked his thinning hair.<br /><br />Her 55-year-old secretary can be heard repeatedly apologising and begging the lawmaker to stop kicking and beating him.<br /><br />"Don't damage my reputation anymore," Toyota screams, apparently in response to a mistake she claims the man had made.<br /><br />Major Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, named Toyota as the woman heard on the tape. No one picked up the phone at her office today.<br /><br />The secretary recorded the exchange, which took place last month inside a car that he was driving, according to a weekly magazine that was given the tape and uploaded on YouTube.<br /><br />The magazine wrote a story that claimed Toyota had threatened to crush the man's head with a pipe in a separate incident, and made references to the hypothetical rape and murder of his daughter.<br /><br />An LDP official said Toyota submitted a letter of resignation on Thursday, but it was not clear if it would be accepted.<br /><br />Toyota has been hospitalised due to an "unstable mental condition", an LDP official said -- a not uncommon turn of events for a Japanese politician at the centre of a crisis.<br /><br />The incident marks the latest in a string of scandals involving younger LDP members, including one who quit over an extramarital affair and another who quit over his financial dealings.</p>
<p>A female Japanese politician has resigned after an audio tape emerged of her violently attacking a male secretary, and reportedly threatening to crush his head with a lead pipe.<br /><br />Mayuko Toyota, a 42-year-old Harvard graduate and up- and-coming member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), can be heard screaming at the unnamed aide, saying he should die as she mocked his thinning hair.<br /><br />Her 55-year-old secretary can be heard repeatedly apologising and begging the lawmaker to stop kicking and beating him.<br /><br />"Don't damage my reputation anymore," Toyota screams, apparently in response to a mistake she claims the man had made.<br /><br />Major Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, named Toyota as the woman heard on the tape. No one picked up the phone at her office today.<br /><br />The secretary recorded the exchange, which took place last month inside a car that he was driving, according to a weekly magazine that was given the tape and uploaded on YouTube.<br /><br />The magazine wrote a story that claimed Toyota had threatened to crush the man's head with a pipe in a separate incident, and made references to the hypothetical rape and murder of his daughter.<br /><br />An LDP official said Toyota submitted a letter of resignation on Thursday, but it was not clear if it would be accepted.<br /><br />Toyota has been hospitalised due to an "unstable mental condition", an LDP official said -- a not uncommon turn of events for a Japanese politician at the centre of a crisis.<br /><br />The incident marks the latest in a string of scandals involving younger LDP members, including one who quit over an extramarital affair and another who quit over his financial dealings.</p>