Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto continues to fuel speculation that his political career will not end in November and that he might end up as an outside adviser to, or even a non-elected member of, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet by the end of the year.
Hashimoto will not seek re-election in a Nov. 22 double election for mayor and governor, but on Twitter on Tuesday he said he had never made any public pledges to the Japanese people about life after he leaves office.
"If you don't like me, vote me out at election time. Politicians are completely tied to their public pledges, and there are a variety of ways to carry them out," the mayor wrote.