# Public Prosecutors Office (Japan)

The Public Prosecutors Office (検察庁, Kensatsu-chō) is the agency for conducting prosecution in Japan. It is an extraordinary organ (特別の機関, Tokubetsu no Kikan) under the Ministry of Justice (法務省, Hōmu-shō). It consists of four tiers of offices: the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office; the High Public Prosecutors Offices (8), the District Public Prosecutors Offices (50); and the Local Public Prosecutors Offices (438).

## History

In 1872, Japan introduced a modern prosecution system following the French system. The 1880 Act provided that public prosecutors had exclusive power of prosecution and it was enforced in 1882. However, the then system adopted preliminary hearings and collection of evidence was placed on pretrial judges. The prosecution department was attached to the courts in 1890.
After the World War II, Japan enacted the new Constitution in 1946, which stipulates the principle of separation of powers, and thus, the prosecution department needed to be separated from the courts. The Public Prosecutor's Office Act (検察庁法, Kensatsu-chō Hō), which established the current prosecution organisations, was enforced on the same day as the new Constitution, 3 May 1947.

## People
### Prosecutors

The law provides that the Public Prosecutors Office is where the work of public prosecutors (検察官, Kensatsu-kan) is unified. It lays down five ranks of public prosecutors: the Prosecutor-General, the Deputy Prosecutor-General, the Superintending Prosecutors, Public Prosecutors and Assistant Prosecutors.
The prosecutors' independence and impartiality are protected by law with some exceptions under Article 25 of the PPO, such as retirement age, physical/mental disability or supernumerary officials.

#### Prosecutor-General, Deputy Prosecutor-General and Superintending Prosecutors

The Prosecutor-General (検事総長, Kenji Sōchō) heads the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office. The Deputy Prosecutor-General (次長検事, Jichō Kenji) belongs to the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office and assists the Prosecutor-General. The Prosecutor-General supervises all the staff of the Public Prosecutors Office. Although the Minister of Justice may give general directions on criminal investigation and trial to prosecutors, the Minister can direct only the Prosecutor-General regarding a specific case.
The Superintending Prosecutors (検事長, Kenji-chō) head the High Public Prosecutors Offices and supervise the staff within the jurisdiction.
The appointment and removal of these offices (10 prosecutors) are decided by the Cabinet and attested by the Emperor.
The retirement age of the Prosecutor-General is 65, while that of all the other prosecutors is 63, including the Deputy Prosecutor-General and the Superintending Prosecutors.

#### Public Prosecutors

Public Prosecutors (検事, Kenji) are assigned to one of the Public Prosecutors Offices and engaged in prosecution. They have the power to investigate any crimes, as well as issue orders to the police about specific investigations. Also, they have the authority to prosecute criminal cases. The Japanese law allows a public prosecutor not to prosecute a suspect when the prosecution is unnecessary due to the circumstances such as his/her age or the gravity of the offence. A suspect will be prosecuted if and only if it is obvious based on evidence that he/she has committed a crime in question and the prosecutor finds it necessary to prosecute him/her.
Public Prosecutors are usually appointed from those who have passed the bar exam (司法試験, Shihō Shiken) and finished the legal apprenticeship (司法修習, Shihō Shūshū). As of 1 July 2019, 1,788 Public Prosecutors work for the Public Prosecutors Office, while 153 are posted to other ministries or agencies.
Each District Public Prosecutors Office is headed by a Chief Prosecutor (検事正, Kenji-sei) assigned among experienced Public Prosecutors.

#### Assistant Prosecutors

Assistant Prosecutors (副検事, Fuku-Kenji) are assigned to one of the Local Public Prosecutors Offices. They have the same authority to investigate and prosecute crimes as Public Prosecutors, though they usually deal with less serious cases.
Assistant Prosecutors are appointed from those who were particular public officials such as prosecutors' assistant officers and police officers and have passed the exam to become assistant prosecutors. As of 1 July 2019, 770 Assistant Prosecutors work for the Public Prosecutors Office.

### Assistant Officers

There are more than 9,000 Prosecutors' Assistant Officers (検察事務官, Kensatsu Jimu-kan) in the Public Prosecutors Office. They assist public prosecutors in conducting investigations and trials, and also carry out investigations themselves under public prosecutors' direction. They assume a wide-ranging role in the Public Prosecutors Office, including work related to prosecution, such as safekeeping of evidence, and general affairs, such as accounts.

## Organisation
### Supreme Public Prosecutors Office

The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office (最高検察庁, Saikō Kensatsu-chō, abbr. as 最高検 Saikōken) is located in Tokyo. It is the counterpart of the Supreme Court. It deals with criminal cases in which the High Courts' judgements have been appealed to the Supreme Court.

#### Location

* 1-1-1, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo

#### Structure

The SPPO is structured as of 2021:
* Secretariat
** General Affairs Department
** Inspection and Guidance Department
** Criminal Affairs Department
** Public Security Department
** Trial Department

#### Executives

As of 12 February 2020, executives of the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office are as follows:
| Office | Executive | Date of appointment | Prior office |
| Prosecutor-General | Nobuo Inada | 25 July 2018 (2018-07-25) | Superintending Prosecutor, Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office |
| Deputy Prosecutor-General | Toru Sakai | 25 July 2018 (2018-07-25) | Superintending Prosecutor, Sendai High Public Prosecutors Office |
| Director-General, General Affairs Department | Naomi Unemoto | 16 July 2019 (2019-07-16) | Director-General, Inspection and Guidance Department, Supreme Public Prosecutors Office |
| Director-General, Inspection and Guidance Department | Taiji Oyama | 9 January 2020 (2020-01-09) | Director-General, Criminal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice |
| Director-General, Criminal Affairs Department | Yoshikazu Ochiai | 26 February 2018 (2018-02-26) | Chief Prosecutor, Saitama District Public Prosecutors Office |
| Director-General, Public Security Department | Hideaki Yamagami | 2 September 2019 (2019-09-02) | Deputy Superintending Prosecutor, Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office |
| Director-General, Trial Department | Masaki Wada | 18 January 2019 (2019-01-18) | Director-General, Immigration Bureau, Ministry of Justice |

### High Public Prosecutors Offices

The High Public Prosecutors Offices (高等検察庁, Kōtō Kensatsu-chō, abbr. as 高検 Kōken) are located in 8 major cities in Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo and Takamatsu. Some of the High Public Prosecutors Offices have their branches. These locations correspond to those of the High Courts and their branches.
The High Public Prosecutors Offices deal with criminal cases appealed to the High Courts. In addition, the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office is responsible for the detention of a fugitive for the purpose of extradition upon a request from a foreign country.
List of High Public Prosecutors Offices :
| High Public Prosecutors Office | Superintending Prosecutor | Deputy Superintending Prosecutor | District Public Prosecutors Offices within the jurisdiction |
| Tokyo | Hiromu Kurokawa | Shin Kukimoto | Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama, Chiba, Mito, Utsunomiya, Maebashi, Shizuoka, Kofu, Nagano and Niigata |
| Osaka | Kazuo Sakakibara | Tsuyoshi Unemoto | Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, Otsu and Wakayama |
| Nagoya | Makoto Hayashi | Yumiko Kawase | Nagoya, Tsu and Gifu |
| - Kanazawa Branch | Makoto Hayashi | Yumiko Kawase | Fukui, Kanazawa and Toyama |
| Hiroshima | Ryoichi Nakahara | Yuriko Tsunekawa | Hiroshima and Yamaguchi |
| - Okayama Branch | Ryoichi Nakahara | Yuriko Tsunekawa | Okayama |
| - Matsue Branch | Ryoichi Nakahara | Yuriko Tsunekawa | Tottori and Matsue |
| Fukuoka | Hiroshi Inoue | Takafumi Sato | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Oita and Kumamoto |
| - Miyazaki Branch | Hiroshi Inoue | Takafumi Sato | Kagoshima and Miyazaki |
| - Naha Branch | Hiroshi Inoue | Takafumi Sato | Naha |
| Sendai | Ryotaro Oba | Miyuki Sato | Sendai, Fukushima, Yamagata, Morioka and Aomori |
| - Akita Branch | Ryotaro Oba | Miyuki Sato | Akita |
| Sapporo | Hiroshi Kataoka | Tomoaki Nitta | Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa and Kushiro |
| Takamatsu | Yukio Kai | Hisashi Yoshida | Takamatsu, Tokushima, Kochi and Matsuyama |

### District Public Prosecutors Offices

The District Public Prosecutors Offices (地方検察庁, Chihō Kensatsu-chō, abbr. as 地検 Chiken) are located in all the prefectural capitals (47) and 3 large cities in Hokkaido besides Sapporo. Most of them have their branches. These locations correspond to those of the District and the Family Courts and their branches.
Public prosecutors in the District Public Prosecutors Offices carry out investigations and trials of criminal cases. Most cases are referred to prosecutors by the police and other organisations such as customs, but some serious and complex cases are investigated by public prosecutors on their own. Some large District Public Prosecutors Offices have a dedicated investigation department (the Special Investigation Department (特別捜査部, Tokubetsu Sōsa-bu, abbr. as 特捜部 Tokusō-bu) or the Special Criminal Department (特別刑事部, Tokubetsu Keiji-bu)) for serious cases. In particular, many well-known cases are prosecuted by the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office (東京地方検察庁特別捜査部, Tōkyō Chihō Kensatsu-chō Tokubetsu Sōsa-bu, known as 東京地検特捜部 Tōkyō Chiken Tokusō-bu).
List of District Public Prosecutors Offices :
| District Public Prosecutors Office | Chief Prosecutor | Location | Branches |
| Tokyo | Tetsuya Sogi | Chiyoda, Tokyo | Tachikawa |
| Yokohama | Atsushi Kitamura | Yokohama, Kanagawa | Kawasaki, Sagamihara, Yokosuka and Odawara |
| Saitama | Seiji Yoshida | Saitama, Saitama | Koshigaya, Kawagoe, Kumagaya and Chichibu |
| Chiba | Masamichi Kamimura | Chiba, Chiba | Sakura, Ichinomiya, Matsudo, Kisarazu, Tateyama, Yokaichiba (Sosa) and Sawara (Katori) |
| Mito | Takashi Nishitani | Mito, Ibaraki | Hitachi, Tsuchiura, Ryugasaki, Aso (Namegata) and Shimotsuma |
| Utsunomiya | Masahiro Ono | Utsunomiya, Tochigi | Moka, Otawara, Tochigi and Ashikaga |
| Maebashi | Akira Ozu | Maebashi, Gumma | Numata, Ota, Kiryu and Takasaki |
| Shizuoka | Hisashi Takahashi | Shizuoka, Shizuoka | Numazu, Fuji, Shimoda, Hamamatsu and Kakegawa |
| Kofu | Hiroshi Takeuchi | Kofu, Yamanashi | Tsuru |
| Nagano | Haruhiko Ukawa | Nagano, Nagano | Ueda, Saku, Matsumoto, Suwa, Iida and Ina |
| Niigata | Shinji Iwayama | Niigata, Niigata | Sanjo, Shibata, Nagaoka, Takada (Joetsu) and Sado |
| Osaka | Yasuhiro Tanabe | Osaka, Osaka | Sakai and Kishiwada |
| Kyoto | Katsuhiro Hirokami | Kyoto, Kyoto | Sonobe (Nantan), Miyazu, Maizuru and Fukuchiyama |
| Kobe | Motoko Tanaka | Kobe, Hyogo | Itami, Amagasaki, Akashi, Kaibara (Tamba), Himeji, Yashiro (Kato), Tatsuno, Toyooka and Sumoto |
| Nara | Hideyuki Yamaguchi | Nara, Nara | Katsuragi (Yamatotakada) and Gojo |
| Otsu | Masayoshi Kimura | Otsu, Shiga | Hikone and Nagahama |
| Wakayama | Yukihiro Yamamoto | Wakayama, Wakayama | Tanabe, Gobo and Shingu |
| Nagoya | Yasushi Yoshida | Nagoya, Aichi | Ichinomiya, Handa, Okazaki and Toyohashi |
| Tsu | Yutaka Matsumoto | Tsu, Mie | Matsusaka, Iga, Yokkaichi, Ise and Kumano |
| Gifu | Kenzaburo Yazawa | Gifu, Gifu | Ogaki, Tajimi, Mitake and Takayama |
| Fukui | Takashi Ishii | Fukui, Fukui | Takefu (Echizen) and Tsuruga |
| Kanazawa | Makoto Uemura | Kanazawa, Ishikawa | Komatsu, Nanao and Wajima |
| Toyama | Takeru Tanojiri | Toyama, Toyama | Uozu and Takaoka |
| Hiroshima | Iwao Katayama | Hiroshima, Hiroshima | Kure, Onomichi, Fukuyama and Miyoshi |
| Yamaguchi | Nobuhiko Furuya | Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi | Shunan, Hagi, Iwakuni, Shimonoseki and Ube |
| Okayama | Tadatsugu Yamoto | Okayama, Okayama | Kurashiki, Niimi and Tsuyama |
| Tottori | Shunsuke Oka | Tottori, Tottori | Kurayoshi and Yonago |
| Matsue | Hiroshi Katsuyama | Matsue, Shimane | Izumo, Hamada, Masuda and Saigo (Okinoshima) |
| Fukuoka | Toshiaki Kataoka | Fukuoka, Fukuoka | Iizuka, Nogata, Kurume, Yanagawa, Omuta, Yame, Kokura (Kitakyushu), Yukuhashi and Tagawa |
| Saga | Fumihiko Koyuba | Saga, Saga | Takeo and Karatsu |
| Nagasaki | Hirotsugu Yoshiike | Nagasaki, Nagasaki | Omura, Shimabara, Sasebo, Hirado, Iki, Goto and Izuhara (Tsushima) |
| Oita | Munio Nagahata | Oita, Oita | Kitsuki, Saiki, Taketa, Nakatsu and Hita |
| Kumamoto | Yasumasa Kimura | Kumamoto, Kumamoto | Tamana, Yamaga, Aso, Yatsushiro, Hitoyoshi and Amakusa |
| Kagoshima | Koji Ishizaki | Kagoshima, Kagoshima | Naze (Amami), Kajiki (Aira), Chiran (Minamikyushu), Sendai (Satsumasendai) and Kanoya |
| Miyazaki | Toshiharu Kato | Miyazaki, Miyazaki | Nichinan, Miyakonojo and Nobeoka |
| Naha | Takashi Nakamura | Naha, Okinawa | Okinawa, Nago, Hirara (Miyakojima) and Ishigaki |
| Sendai | Kazuaki Morimoto | Sendai, Miyagi | Ogawara, Furukawa (Osaki), Ishinomaki, Tome and Kesennuma |
| Fukushima | Yukinobu Hayakawa | Fukushima, Fukushima | Soma, Koriyama, Shirakawa, Aizuwakamatsu and Iwaki |
| Yamagata | Hiroko Matsushita | Yamagata, Yamagata | Shinjo, Yonezawa, Tsuruoka and Sakata |
| Morioka | Yasushi Iijima | Morioka, Iwate | Hanamaki, Ninohe, Tono, Miyako, Ichinoseki and Mizusawa (Oshu) |
| Akita | Mariko Suzuki | Akita, Akita | Noshiro, Honjo (Yurihonjo), Odate, Yokote and Omagari (Daisen) |
| Aomori | Makoto Takahashi | Aomori, Aomori | Goshogawara, Hirosaki, Hachinohe and Towada |
| Sapporo | Hideyuki Hayashi | Sapporo, Hokkaido | Iwamizawa, Takikawa, Muroran, Tomakomai, Urakawa, Otaru and Iwanai |
| Hakodate | Takashi Mori | Hakodate, Hokkaido | Esashi |
| Asahikawa | Toshiyuki Yamada | Asahikawa, Hokkaido | Nayoro, Mombetsu, Rumoi and Wakkanai |
| Kushiro | Hiroki Ozaki | Kushiro, Hokkaido | Obihiro, Abashiri, Kitami and Nemuro |
| Takamatsu | Hisayoshi Nishimura | Takamatsu, Kagawa | Marugame and Kanonji |
| Tokushima | Masaaki Ozawa | Tokushima, Tokushima | Anan and Mima |
| Kochi | Koichi Takahashi | Kochi, Kochi | Susaki, Aki and Nakamura (Shimanto) |
| Matsuyama | Isao Shiraki | Matsuyama, Ehime | Ozu, Saijo, Imabari and Uwajima |

### Local Public Prosecutors Offices

The Local Public Prosecutors Offices (区検察庁, Ku Kensatsu-chō, abbr. as 区検 Kuken) deal with criminal investigations and trials of less serious offences. There are 438 offices throughout the country. Their locations correspond to those of the Local Courts.