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Him leaving Japan is undoubtedly illegal and not excusable. However if I understand the allegations correctly, he stole a bunch of money from a company he was running. Putting him to jail for 10 years for stealing $5m from a company that he just made $4bn for seems a bit harsh. Then again, Japan has the right to decide that so my opinion is irrelevant.

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In Japan, stealing even a small amount is treated harshly. Recently, I recall that a member of Abe’s cabinet lost his political career because his staff mis-allocated a few hundred dollars worth of lunch receipts, which were erroneously charged to public accounts. Some people see it as disproportionate, but remember that you are expected to be even harsher in judging yourself in these situations. There’s a whole secondary wave of shame if you don’t one-up the required penalty voluntarily.

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