Tokyo - The head of a Japanese educational foundation at
the centre of a real estate scandal told parliament he received a donation from
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe via his wife, prompting a fresh denial from the top
government spokesman.
Speaking under oath in the Diet for the first time on
Thursday, school principal Yasunori Kagoike said that Akie Abe personally
handed him an envelope containing 1 million yen ($9 000) in cash during her
September 2015 visit to a kindergarten operated by the nationalist group.
“She told me it was from Shinzo Abe,” Kagoike said.
Afterward, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga
reiterated previous denials. “The prime minister did not make a donation
himself,” he told reporters. “He did not donate through his wife Akie, nor
through his office or a third party," he said, adding that it was his
understanding that Abe’s wife didn’t made a donation in a personal capacity
either.
The allegations have dented Abe’s popularity and may
prompt him to delay calling an election due by the end of next year. Questions
over how the foundation, known as Moritomo Gakuen, was able to purchase
publicly owned land in Osaka for a fraction of its market value have dominated
parliamentary discussions for weeks.
‘Bit surprised’
Kagoike said he had called Akie the month after her visit
to seek help with buying land to build a new elementary school, but received a
faxed refusal from her staff. He said he was “a bit surprised" later to
find the foundation had been able to buy the tract for 134 million yen, which
he said was a discount of about 800 million yen. When asked whether there was
political involvement in the deal, he told lawmakers that he thought there was.
Kagoike first made the allegations of the donation in a
meeting with opposition lawmakers last week. Government spokesman Suga
said at the time that he had “absolutely no idea” what Kagoike based his
remarks on, and Abe’s denials prompted lawmakers to summon the school head to
clarify the matter under sworn testimony. The prime minister has also said
he’d step down if any link emerges between himself and the real estate
transaction.
Financial markets had little reaction to the latest
remarks. Japan’s benchmark Topix index slipped 0.1 percent at 1:45 p.m. in
Tokyo, while the yen halted seven days of gains against the dollar.
Used name
Kagoike told lawmakers he had at one point used Shinzo
Abe’s name while fundraising for the school, without gaining his permission.
Akie Abe had been set to act as its honorary principal, but dropped the plan as
the scandal came to light.
A poll conducted by the Yomiuri newspaper on March 18-19
found that support for Abe’s cabinet had fallen to 56 percent from 66 percent
the previous month, as news emerged of links between Moritomo and Defense
Minister Tomomi Inada. Inada said this month that she acted for the foundation
in a law case years ago, after retracting earlier remarks denying she
represented the group.
Inada also said Kagoike attended one of her political
fundraising parties. Abe has already denied in parliament making a donation
directly or through his wife.
The Tsukamoto kindergarten is known for making children
bow to portraits of the emperor and recite a 19th century imperial decree on
education -- practices dropped elsewhere after Japan’s World War II defeat.
Last month, the kindergarten apologized for using expressions that "could
cause misunderstanding among foreigners." Kyodo news agency reported that
the principal had been questioned over alleged slurs against Koreans and
Chinese.
Lawmakers summoned Kagoike to parliament under his real
name, which is Yasuhiro Kagoike. The school operator told lawmakers he had been
a "big fan" of Abe, but had decided to make his case public after the
prime minister referred to him in parliament as "extremely pushy."