Over the past month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government once again found themselves the target of allegations of political favoritism.
This time it was for bending, if not breaking, the rule governing the mandatory retirement age of national public servants in order to allow Hiromu Kurokawa, the 63-year-old head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office, to continue in his post despite having reached retirement age.
Political and media speculation is that by extending Kurokawa's tenure in his current position until the summer, Abe will be able to appoint him as the next prosecutor general.