Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was under mounting pressure Friday over allegations that he used his influence to help a friend clinch a business deal after two official reports appeared to back up the claims.
Abe, in power since late 2012, is in little danger of losing his job but his popularity has taken a knock following the latest shady dealings claims.
They come months after the prime minister was forced to deny connections to the controversial director of a school which had purchased government land at a huge discount.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks at documents related to the issue of whether he used his influence for a school operator run by his friend to open a new university department, in a House of Representatives committee session in Tokyo on June 5, 2017. /VCG Photo
This week, the education ministry and Cabinet Office confirmed the existence of documents similar to ones that the opposition pointed to as evidence Abe used his power improperly to pressure bureaucrats into helping a friend.
The claims, originally reported by the Asahi newspaper last month, center on documents that suggested the education ministry was pressured to grant approval for a new veterinary school run by one of Abe's old university friends.
The friend, Kotaro Kake, allegedly wanted to open his school in a special economic zone so that he could bypass the ministry's cumbersome regulations.
Education minister Hirokazu Matsuno speaks to reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on June 15, 2017, about his ministry's internal probe looking for documents which may support allegations of favoritism against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. /VCG Photo
In response to the claims, the education ministry launched a probe last month but it quickly closed the investigation and said it "could not confirm the existence of the documents".
The ministry flip-flopped a week later, saying the documents did exist.
"I'm taking this result seriously," Education Minister Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters this week.
On Friday, the Cabinet Office also said it had unearthed similar papers, but questioned whether they proved Abe intended to pressure education ministry bureaucrats.
"There was no such instruction from the prime minister," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Friday.
Earlier this year, Abe denied claims he made a donation to the school at the center of the land scandal.
Yasunori Kagoike, head of Moritomo Gakuen school, attends a parliamentary session in Tokyo, Japan March 23, 2017. /VCG Photo
The school's director Yasunori Kagoike gained notoriety for operating an Osaka kindergarten that instills pupils with ultra-nationalist views.
A poll by public broadcaster NHK this week showed Abe's government had a 48 percent support rating, down three percentage points from a month ago. His disapproval rating rose six percentage points in that time to 36 percent, the survey showed.
(Source: AFP)
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