Renowned lawyer Kohei Nakabo's sudden announcement Friday that he would give up his practice over his alleged involvement in a swindle in connection with debt collection was greeted with a mixture of surprise and coolness.
Often dubbed "The Demon," Nakabo carried out his tasks with a seemingly endless supply of energy. Many found this voracity hard to believe coming from his small 160 cm frame and soft Kansai dialect.
His successes in tackling high-profile legal cases as a champion of the weak led to his appointment as head of Housing Loan Administration Corp. in 1996. The appointment came amid a public furor over taxpayer money going toward collecting the bad loans left behind by seven failed "jusen" housing loan lenders.