The Japanese goverment has proposed a law that would raise the age of retirement for public prosecutors from 63 to 65. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe‘s Cabinet would be the ones to decide on the prosectors’ retirement. Critics of the proposal say it could damage the fairness of the judicial system by allowing the Abe administration to decide which prosecutors can stay in office for longer.
Earlier this year, Abe’s administration came under scrutiny when it let Kurokawa Hiromu, chief of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, remain at his post after he turned 63. It is widely believed that Kurokawa is favored by the administration, which is why he was allowed to remain.
Outrage over the proposal generated over 3.8 million tweets over the weekend, causing the hashtag #検察庁法改正法案に抗議します (“I oppose the revision of the public prosecutor’s office law”) to trend. The Japanese public is angry that the government would attempt to pass such a law while they are dealing with COVID-19 pandemic, a more urgent issue that they feel the government hasn’t done enough about.
Several celebrities also tweeted about this, including Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, SKY-HI, Tadanobu Asano, Ikimonogakari‘s Mizuno Yoshiki, and Koizumi Kyoko.
Shirota Yu questioned why there was such a rush to pass this law, without it being explained to the public.
Theater director Miyamoto Amon tweeted, “In this confusion over the coronavirus, we should focus on (saving) people’s lives. It’s a tragedy for Japan to forcibly decide on the bill, which is far from democracy.”
“Please do not twist the law or politics anymore for the sake of self-protection. Please do not destroy this country,” actor Iura Arata tweeted.
Nikkan Sports published a list of celebrities who tweeted about the prosecutor proposal, which an be found below.
Shirota Yu
Iura Arata
LaSalle Ishii
Saigo Teruhiko
Mizuno Yoshiki
Taniyama Hiroko
Nomachi Mineko
Kondo Fumie
Murayama Yuka
Irie Yu
Shiraishi Kazuya
Suetsugu Yuki
Yamazaki Mari
DaiGo
Miyamoto Amon
Hamakan Kanda
Yoshida Sensha
Koizumi Kyoko
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
Tadanobu Asano
Sudo Genki
Kakuta Mitsuyo
Shimada Masahiko
Nogi Akiko
Ayatsuji Yukito
Taikyokugu (Osawa Arimasa / Miyabe Miyuki / Kyogoku Natsuhiko)
Shiraishi Koji
Machiyama Tomohiro
Tsukamoto Shinya
Eguchi Hisashi
Umino Tsunami
Tsuda Daisuke
Seyarogai Ojisan
Katabuchi Sunao
Ito Kazunori
Kodama Yuki
Miuchi Suzue
Shiriagari Kotobuki
Kojima Keiko
Iwai Shunji
Akimoto Sayaka
Muramoto Daisuke
Shimazaki Yuzuru
Matsuda Hiroko
SKY-HI
Shiina Junpei
UNA
Tawara Machi
Ito Seiko
Shishido Kai
Aihara Koji
Tezuka Rumiko
Ohkubo Kayoko
Yamashita Tomoko
Shimamoto Rio
Umino Chica
Hara Yasuhisa
Okazaki Mari
Ito Junji
Yamashita Kazumi
Kayama Rika
Shinohara Chie
Soda Kazuhiro
Keralino Sandrovich
Itoyama Akiko
Shibasaki Tomoka
Muroi Yuzuki
Yoneyama Ryuichi
Yukawa Reiko
Nakazawa Kei
Inoue Areno
Misumi Mizuki
Hirano Keiichiro
Tatekawa Danshiro
Nomami Asa
Itoi Shigesato
Yuki Nae
Atashinchi / Kera Eiko
Matsumoto Takashi
Takada Nobuhiko
Toyohara Kosuke
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