Depending on which report you read, Caroline Kennedy is either definitely going to be appointed as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan or probably going to be appointed.

Kennedy¡¯s career as a lawyer is not particularly storied, but she is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy.

On the surface, Kennedy¡¯s potential appointment as ambassador to the world¡¯s third-largest economy and major U.S. ally, not to mention a country where rising nationalism and a declining economy could bring major changes, would seem like a case of hiring for prestige rather than merit.