Abe admits having received salary from scandal-hit friend's school 20 years ago

May 31, 2017 | News On Japan

May 31, 2017 (Japan Today) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday he had been listed as an executive member of a school operator run by his friend and received a salary, as opposition parties intensified their offensive against him alleging he favored the operator in connection with a plan to establish a new university department.

The fresh revelation came after a former education ministry bureaucrat admitted last week the authenticity of documents indicating Abe was involved in a government decision to approve the heavily subsidized construction of a veterinary medicine department at Okayama University of Science in western Japan's Ehime Prefecture.

Abe told an upper house committee that for several years more than 20 years ago, he had received a salary of 140,000 yen annually from Kake Educational Institution, whose chairman Kotato Kake is a close friend of his.

"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 said in the House of Councillors Judicial Affairs Committee, adding it was "a long time ago."

Later Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied that Abe had influenced the decision on the university project. "Is there anything wrong?" with the prime minister having served as an executive member of the school operator and been compensated for that role, he said at a press conference.

During the parliamentary session, Abe turned down a request from Toshio Ogawa, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, to summon to the Diet as a sworn witness Kihei Maekawa, former vice minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, to testify over the documents in question.

The papers showed what appeared to be exchanges between education ministry and Cabinet Office officials tasked with making a decision to open the department in a specially deregulated zone in Imabari in Ehime. Looser rules are applied to such zones as part of the Abe administration's growth strategy.

Toyota to Launch Self-Driving Taxis in 2027

Toyota Motor will begin operating fully autonomous taxis in 2027 through a partnership with U.S. self-driving technology company Waymo, marking a major step in the Japanese automaker's efforts to expand driverless transportation services.

Mount Fuji Puts on First Snowcap

Mount Fuji has received its first snowcap of the season, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on October 30, after temperatures at the summit plunged to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, marking the arrival of winter conditions on Japan's highest mountain.

Chinese Female Spy Suspected of Targeting Nvidia Chief

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that a Chinese female intelligence operative developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an attempt to obtain confidential corporate and U.S. government information, according to a report published by The New York Times on October 29th.

Japan Blocks Websites Leaking GMO Personal Data

The Japanese government has asked major telecommunications operators to forcibly block access to websites believed to contain personal information stolen in a cyberattack on GMO, it emerged on October 29th, as authorities moved to prevent further exposure of sensitive data online.

Typhoon No. 31 Heads Toward Japan's Remote Islands

Typhoon No. 31 was located near Minamitorishima Island in the Pacific Ocean, as of 3 a.m. on October 30, and was expected to approach the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo over the October 31-November 1 weekend while maintaining very strong intensity, bringing a growing risk of dangerously high waves, powerful swells and extremely rough seas.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Landlords Bear Financial Burden of Lonely Deaths

Japan's rapidly aging population is facing a growing crisis of elderly people dying alone at home, with grieving families sometimes unable to see their loved ones before burial and landlords increasingly forced to shoulder substantial cleanup and estate clearance costs when relatives abandon their inheritance.

Prison Inmates Help Preserve Japan's Traditional Crafts

Traditional Japanese crafts are finding an unexpected source of skilled workers in prisons across the country, where inmates are learning painstaking production techniques that build patience and concentration while helping preserve industries struggling with a shortage of craftspeople.

South Korean Man Arrested Over Killing of Japanese Woman Following Stock Crash

A Japanese woman in her 20s was found dead at an apartment complex in Cheonan, central South Korea, on October 29th, prompting police to detain a South Korean man in his 30s on suspicion of murder after he allegedly confessed to killing her because he had decided to commit suicide following stock market losses but could not bring himself to die alone.

Japan's Imperial Family Hosts Autumn Garden Party

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted the annual autumn garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on October 29, welcoming approximately 1,400 guests, including actor Kotaro Yoshida and novelist Miyuki Miyabe, while female members of the Imperial Family attended in traditional Japanese attire.

Rescuers Save Paraglider Who Stopped Breathing

A 59-year-old water sports rental shop owner in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, has received a letter of appreciation from police after rescuing a paraglider who plunged into a lake on September 21, pulling the unconscious man from the water and performing CPR after discovering he was no longer breathing.

Couple's Gardening Hobby Turns Out to Be Cannabis Cultivation

A married couple in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, have been arrested after police discovered cannabis plants growing in pots on the terrace of their home during a search connected to a separate investigation, authorities said on October 28th.

Elderly Woman Drives Along Railway Tracks, Ends in Tragedy

A woman in her 80s was killed after her car entered railway tracks on the Odakyu Enoshima Line in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly before 10:30 p.m. on October 27, with security camera footage showing the vehicle traveling along the tracks, passing an oncoming train and stopping with its hazard lights flashing before being struck from behind by another train.

Teen Hospitalized After Electric Shock From Basketball Hoop

A teenage male was rushed to a hospital after suffering an electric shock while putting away a motorized basketball hoop at a gymnasium in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, in an accident believed to have been caused by an incompatible extension cord, according to a report on October 27th.

< 2 3 4 5 >