The curtain came down on Toru Hashimoto's nearly eight-year political career Friday, with the Osaka mayor finishing his term in office.
But few expect Hashimoto to stay retired from politics long, with speculation growing that he will head to Tokyo sometime next year, either as a Diet member for the new Osaka Ishin no Kai national party after the Upper House election in July or as some sort of adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Hashimoto leaves behind a mixed legacy in Osaka, enacting unprecedented reforms but failing in his key goal to merge Osaka city's 24 wards into five semiautonomous wards.