Controversial new videos have emerged in Japan showing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s scandal-hit wife Akie praising ultranationalistic education policies and calling for Japanese leaders to be allowed to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, home to some of Japan’s worst war criminals.
The videos, anonymously posted on a website called "Akieleaks" earlier this week, appear to be clips of speeches given by Akie Abe at the Tsukamoto Kindergarten, owned by ultranationalist school operator Moritomo Gakuen, in September 2015, according to The Japan Times.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and his wife, Akie, chat at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda, Japan on March 6, 2017. /CFP Photo
In one video, Akie Abe praised the education at the kindergarten.
“My husband, too, thinks the education policy here is wonderful,” The Japan Times quoted her as saying.
The Tsukamoto Kindergarten makes its students recite a 19th-century Imperial Rescript on Education and has come under harsh criticism for its ultranationalistic teachings.
Parents were also given a statement last year that described Koreans and Chinese as having "wicked ideas," according to The Japan Times.
The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. /CFP Photo
Akie also said Japanese prime ministers should be allowed to visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo – which honors Japan’s war dead but also 14 Class-A convicted war criminals - despite criticism from "neighboring countries."
Visits by Japanese government officials to the infamous shrine regularly anger China and South Korea, who regard it as a symbol of past Japanese militarism that killed millions in both countries during World War Two.
Shinzo Abe visited the shrine in 2013 and has often sent ritual offerings over the past few years. Last year, around 90 Japanese lawmakers, including three cabinet members made visits to the shrine.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) visits the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan on December 26, 2013. /Xinhua Photo
Abe scandal
Abe and his wife have been under pressure to explain their roles in a land deal scandal involving Moritomo Gakuen, which is alleged to have purchased a plot from the state for much less than the appraised value.
The head of the private school operator, Yasunori Kagoike, admitted he received one million yen (about 9,000 US dollars) as a secret donation from Akie, who now faces calls from the opposition to testify in the Diet.
Abe has repeatedly denied any involvement by himself, his wife or members of his administration.
CGTN Graphic
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned Japan on Wednesday against a revival of militarism, in response to recent moves by Abe's administration to allow the use of the Imperial Rescript as a teaching material and add bayonet fighting to secondary school education.
"As Japan attempts to reinstate its wartime educational doctrines and training items, people have to ask if Japan is trying to turn back the wheel of history and revive its militarism," Hua said at a press conference in Beijing.
She urged the Japanese government to face up to its history of aggression and learn from the historical lessons, warning it against misleading the Japanese people with wrong perspectives of history and "leading Japan in the dangerous direction of militarism again."
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