Japan | Abe accused of giving cash for nationalistic school

Yasunori Kagoike, head of an ultra-nationalistic school operator, testifies before an upper house panel at the parliament in Tokyo yesterday

The head of an ultra-nationalistic Japanese school operator at the center of a land and political scandal testified in parliament yesterday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe donated 1 million yen (USD9,000) through his wife for an elementary school where she once was honorary principal.

Yasunori Kagoike, head of the Moritomo Gakuen group, said First Lady Akie Abe handed him the cash in an envelope on behalf of her husband during her September 2015 visit to Kagoike’s kindergarten in Osaka.

The outspoken Kagoike, who is affiliated with Japan’s powerful political lobby Nippon Kaigi and known as a big fan and supporter of Abe, said in sworn testimony at parliament that he believed there was “political influence” over his land purchase and a plan to open an elementary school.

Kagoike’s school is known for a curriculum that resembles that of pre-World War II militaristic Japan.

“I believe there political influence one way or the other at every occasion and place (during approval process),” Kagoike said, without elaborating.

Abe has denied the donation or any influence in the scandal stemming from a 2016 state property sale to Kagoike at one-seventh of its appraised price.

Such a donation is not illegal because Abe’s own electoral constituency is in Yamaguchi, southern Japan, not in Osaka.

Abe, who had spoken fondly about Kagoike’s education policies, has distanced himself from the man, criticizing him for being too persistent. Akie also resigned from her honorary post.

Still, Abe and his wife’s relationship with the man known for his extreme views on history and derogatory expressions about Chinese and Koreans have raised questions, and Abe’s support ratings have declined over the scandal that has dominated Japanese media over the past month.

Kagoike said he is now revealing the truth about Abe, who he thought was on his side and supportive of his school project, before apparently turned his back on him abruptly once the scandal emerged. Mari Yamaguchi, Tokyo, AP