Ex Chief Prosecutor in Tokyo Investigated for Gambling

An investigation body ruled that Hiromu Kurokawa, former director of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors' Office, should be charged with gambling.

The Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution ruled that Kurokawa, 63 y.o., is likely to stand trial, having initially opted not to charge him earlier this year.

But Kurokawa will be re-investigated now.

After a weekly magazine claimed that he had been engaged in illegal gambling, he stepped down from his job in May, but spared the indictment after being accused of playing mahjong with employees of two big Japanese daily papers for money.

The gambling allegedly took place in April and may with news reporters from Sankei Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun, at a time when the world was in a state of emergency because of the coronavirus pandemic.

After being reprimanded by their respective bodies, the two Sankei Shimbun reporters and one former reporter at the Asahi Shimbun as well as Kurokawa all had expressed regret, with all four escaping prosecution.

But a new citizens' commission has ruled that Kurokawa will now be investigated for his conduct, stating:

“In his position, he was meant to stop such illegal acts, and the influence of his involvement in mahjong for money on society is big.”