Making people say "wow" was what catapulted Kumazaki Katsuhiko (No. 14) onto the Power 50 last year, and as the top-ranked Japanese.

CNN: THE SPOTLIGHT PASSES ON

But exercising such power can be dangerous to the exerciser - Kumazaki was "promoted" to head a rural prosecutor's office following his successes in Tokyo.

CNN: THE SPOTLIGHT PASSES ON

Katsuhiko Kumazaki, the head of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors office, probed into corruption at the Ministry of Finance and in the banking industry in 1997 and netted several indictments.

FORBES: Japan's Dirty Secrets