Japanese PM Shinzo Abe admits receiving salary from scandal-hit school

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday admitted he had received a salary from a school operator, which had been given preferential treatment to open a new department at a university.

Speaking at an upper house committee, Abe said he had received 140,000 yen (1,260 US dollars) a year from the Kake Educational Institution which currently operates Okayama University of Science. The chairman of the institution – Kotato Kake – is Abe's close friend.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends an upper house judicial affairs committee session in Tokyo on May 30, 2017. /VCG Photo

"I was in charge of auditing or something else at the institution for a couple of years after I was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993," Abe was quoted as saying to the House of Councillors Judicial Affairs Committee, adding it was "a long time ago."

In January, the university in western Japan's Ehime Prefecture got government approval to construct a veterinary medicine department. It was the first time in half a century the Japanese government had opened a new veterinary medicine school.

In March, local parliament passed a bill that the government would provide free land for the construction of the department – and could offer construction subsidies for as much as 86.6 million US dollars.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a meeting of economic ministers in Tokyo on May 30, 2017.

The prefecture is one of Japan's national strategic special economic zones, which has more relaxed regulations to boost regional growth as part of Abe's overall economic strategy.

The disclosure that Abe had received a salary from the operator of the university has caused anger among opposition parties. The four main parties believe he may have used his influence on behalf of the school operator, but Abe claimed such allegations were inaccurate.

According to a Kyodo News poll in late March, around 62.6% of respondents said they were not convinced by Abe's denial of involvement in the land deal.

CGTN Photo

(With inputs from Xinhua)