Who Made Lie?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied his wife’s involvement in the scandal over an educational corporation in Osaka, Moritomo Gakuen, in the discussion at Budget Committee in House of Councillors on Friday. While the head of Moritomo, Yasunori Kagoike, testified the day before that he had received facsimile from a staff in charge of First Lady Akie Abe or money directly from Akie, Prime Minister firmly denied the story. One of them has made lies.

Kagoike revealed that he received a staff in Prime Minister’s Official Residence, Saeko Tani, a piece of paper through facsimile in 2015, which included negative message against Kagoike’s request for a favor of Ministry of Finance on purchasing state-owned land in Osaka. In the committee, Abe explained that the staff made an official reference and sent the answer to a letter of request from Kagoike’s wife.

Kagoike actually got a discounted deal from MoF after he received the document, which also indicated continuous interest in the issue. One can imagine that MoF has made an offer to Kagoike in favor of Prime Minister’s wife or Prime Minister himself. “That was not an offer or false pressure, and she was not related to the purchase of land property or license for a new school,” insisted Abe. He must have said that, because he had boasted that he would step down as Prime Minister and lawmaker, if he or his wife had been involved in sales of state-owned land.

A lawmaker affiliated to Japan Communist Party, Akira Koike, thought the story strange. “Did a staff in charge of First Lady send a document related to selling of state-owned land without any order from First Lady? No way,” said Koike. Abe still insisted on Akie’s no relation to it. Koike also doubted the behavior of MoF, because the Ministry would not have answered, if it had been from ordinary people or the opposite party. Since it was a reference from First Lady’s staff, MoF might have made a detailed answer to Kagoike.

Abe also denied ¥1 million of donation from Akie to Kagoike, raising an e-mail message from Akie to Kagoike’s wife. “Have you handed me ¥1 million? I don’t know about it,” said Akie in the e-mail message after the scandal was made public. While Abe took it as an evidence of innocence, it could be interpreted as pressure on Kagoike to forget the donation.

The explanation that Akie’s staff sent a document as private activity does not make sense. The e-mail does not work for proving Akie’s no involvement in the donation. As the opposite parties request, the Diet needs to invite Akie to the summoning for thorough investigation on a scandal Prime Minister might have been involved in.