An educator accused of using his clout to curry favor with Japanese politicians, including the first family, told lawmakers under oath Thursday that he believes political intervention helped him secure a deal to purchase land from the government.
Yasunori Kagoike was called in to testify about his Moritomo Gakuen group’s land purchase from the government in June. The group, which runs schools in Japan, paid one-seventh the price of the plot’s assessed value, according to a public copy of the land sale.
More than $7 million was lopped off for waste removal, a discount that raised eyebrows throughout the country.
Kagoike, who has been accused of promoting extreme nationalist views, appeared in parliament to answer lawmakers’ questions over whether he used his connections with some right-leaning politicians — including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — to secure the discount for Moritomo Gakuen.
Moritomo Gakuen planned to build a school on the site.
In his testimony, Kagoike said he believes there was some sort of political intervention in the transaction because the process started moving quicker once he began asking for help.
He later clarified what he meant at a news conference with reporters, saying that he believes people working for Abe — specifically bureaucrats in the Ministry of Finance, which sold him the land — helped in the sale. He did not name specific people.
“I don’t think there is direct influence from Prime Minister Abe,” Kagoike said, according to the real-time translator supplied by The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, which hosted the news conference.
The discount was fair, Kagoike said, though he stressed it was the federal government’s decision to reduce the price.
“(It) was not out of the bounds of reality. It took a lot of money to take out the household waste in the land and replace it with good soil,” he said.
Prime Minister Abe denies any connection to the land sale, and says he’ll step down if it’s proven otherwise.
“I have no understanding about the details of what this school is doing,” he said in a session of parliament in February. “I only took a brief look at their brochure. ”
Kagoike said he’s withdrawn the application to build the school at the advice of his lawyer despite the fact that construction is almost finished.
“It was a heartbreaking moment,” he said. “But after that nothing has improved… (the) government acted like I am the only bad guy. I’m starting to find it strange. ”
The scandal has for now put a serious dent in Abe’s reputation. His Cabinet’s approval rating has fallen 10 percentage points since last month to 56%, according to an opinion poll conducted Saturday and Sunday in The Yomiuri Shimbun , a Japanese newspaper.
It’s the largest decline since December 2012, when Abe’s second Cabinet took office, according to the newspaper.
The Moritomo Gakuen group declined to speak with CNN. Representatives for the Abes did not give specific answers to CNN’s inquiries, instead pointing to public comments the Prime Minister has made.
The honorary principal
Abe’s wife, Akie, was a prominent supporter of the planned school, serving as “honorary principal” until her abrupt resignation last month.
Her picture and title were listed on the school’s website but have since taken down.
Abe told parliament in February his wife resigned due to “various incidents,” without going into more detail.
