News of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s involvement in a land deal with an ultra-nationalist kindergarten emerged last month, when Abe’s wife Akie was revealed to be honorary principal of a new school being planned by conservative educationist Yasunori Kagoike.
It subsequently transpired that the school was being built on land purchased from the government by Kagoike’s Moritomo Gakuen group for a fraction of its estimated value, and that Kagoike’s educational philosophies were not just conservative, but tended towards far-right pre-war nationalism.
As the scandal has developed, the Abes have sought to distance themselves from Moritomo Gakuen, with Mrs Abe stepping down from her honorary position, and her message of support and endorsement having been removed from the school website. Shinzo Abe has denied any involvement, but the developing crisis has seen his support fall 10 percent in the past week.
