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Japan's top prosecutor quits as he fails to socially distance at gambling

Hiromu Kurokawa, head of the Tokyo High Prosecutors Office, quit as Justice Ministry officials were investigating a gambling scandal 
Hiromu Kurokawa, head of the Tokyo High Prosecutors Office, quit as Justice Ministry officials were investigating a gambling scandal

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo

 

Tokyo’s top prosecutor has resigned after he was caught gambling during Japan’s nationwide coronavirus state of emergency.

 

Hiromu Kurokawa, chief of Tokyo High Public Prosecutor’s Office, submitted his resignation after it emerged that he defied social distancing precautions to play mahjong for money.

 

The scandal surfaced in a popular weekly magazine, which claimed Mr Kurokawa had evaded stay-at-home requests to visit the Tokyo apartment of a newspaper reporter twice in May to play the game.

 

The prosecutor, widely regarded as being close to the prime minister Shinzo Abe, stepped down after admitting to taking part in the games, despite gambling being widely illegal in Japan.

 

Masako Mori, the justice minister, said that an investigation confirmed the allegations and his resignation was due to be approved by cabinet on Friday, telling reporters: “It was truly regrettable.”

 

His departure comes at a challenging time for the PM. Mr Kurokawa, 63, was already at the heart of a row over a deeply controversial bill that Mr Abe's ruling party had been pushing, to extend the mandatory retirement age of public prosecutors from 63 to 65.

 

 

 

 

Following an unusually vocal public backlash, Mr Abe’s government this week abandoned the bill, which had coincided with Mr Kurokawa this year being allowed to stay in his post, despite reaching retirement age.

 

The scandal also coincides with Mr Abe's popularity falling fast amid amid growing public concern over the perceived clumsiness of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Unlike many regions, Japan has not suffered from explosive levels of infection, with a total of 17,195 confirmed cases and 812 deaths, according to Kyodo News, plus only three new cases reported in Tokyo on Friday – the lowest level in two months.

 

However, officials have increasingly come under fire for low testing levels and strict regulations surrounding access to such tests, with experts warning that the scope of the outbreak may be widely underestimated.

 

The government lifted the state of emergency in 39 of its 47 prefectures last week, with three more regions following on Thursday. The PM has said he may lift the order in the remaining five prefectures – including Tokyo – as early as Monday, following discussions with government experts.

 

However, the pandemic’s impact can already be felt acutely in Japan, with restrictions on activities and business operations tipping the world’s third largest economy into recession this month for the first time since 2015.

 

Close to 10,000 people have already lost their jobs in Japan since February, according to the Labour Ministry, with a surge in layoffs and contract terminations in small and midsize businesses.