The head of a Japanese nationalist school at the heart of a swirling political scandal said in sworn testimony in\u2026<\/b>
TOKYO \u2014
The head of a Japanese nationalist school at the heart of a swirling political scandal said in sworn testimony in parliament on Thursday that he received a donation of 1 million yen from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe\u2019s wife in her husband\u2019s name.
The crisis has chipped away at Abe\u2019s support and even weighed on Japanese shares on Thursday, but Abe has said neither he nor his wife, Akie, intervened in a sweetheart land deal in which educational group Moritomo Gakuen, based in Osaka, western Japan, bought state-owned land at a fraction of its appraisal price to build an elementary school.
Abe has also denied allegations by Yasunori Kagoike, who has said he would step down as head of Moritomo Gakuen, that Akie had donated 1 million yen on the prime minister\u2019s behalf.
Akie had been set to be honorary principal of the school, which was to open in April with a curriculum based on prewar patriotism that taught students to be subjects, not citizens. She cut her ties after the scandal broke. The group also runs a kindergarten with a similar curriculum.
Kagoike, in testimony to an upper house budget committee under oath – which means he could face perjury charges if he is later found to have lied – said that he had received money from Abe\u2019s wife in 2015 when the two of them were alone in a room at the school.
\u201cShe said \u2018please, this is from Shinzo Abe,\u2019 and gave me an envelope with 1 million yen in it,\u201d Kagoike said.
\u201cAbe\u2019s wife apparently says she doesn\u2019t remember this at all, but since this was a matter of honou to us, I remember it quite vividly.\u201d
The testimony was broadcast live on four of Japan\u2019s six television networks and Japan\u2019s Nikkei share index fell to a 1-1\/2 month low in choppy trade as investors became cautious ahead of the testimony.
Kagoike is a member of Nippon Kaigi, a nationalist lobby group that promotes a traditional ethos mixing Shinto myth, patriotism and pride in an ancient imperial line. The group has close ties to Abe and his cabinet.
Abe\u2019s Liberal Democratic Party had resisted opposition calls for Kagoike to testify but agreed after he said Abe had donated money, calling the allegation an \u201cinsult\u201d to the prime minister.
Abe\u2019s support fell 10 points to a still-robust 56% in a Yomiuri newspaper survey published this week, the biggest drop since he returned to office for a rare second term in December 2012.
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, under fire for an unrelated possible cover-up at her ministry, has also been ensnared in the school scandal. She had denied appearing in court on Kagoike\u2019s behalf but had to correct her statement to parliament after court records showed she had. She said her memory was faulty.
Abe quit abruptly in 2007 after a year at the top plagued by scandals in his cabinet, an election drubbing and ill-health.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017.<\/p>\n