Mar 13, 2018 (NHK) - Japan's Finance Ministry says changes to 14 documents relating to a controversial state land deal included deletions of an episode involving the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The alterations were made after the Diet took up the issue.
The land was sold to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen in 2016 for a fraction of its market value. Abe's wife Akie was acquainted with the school operator.
After media accusations of document tampering, the ministry submitted a report to the Diet.
The approximately 80-page report details the findings of its internal investigation. The report identifies about 310 alterations.
One of the deletions referred to a visit by Abe's wife Akie to the school and a speech she made in April 2014.
Her name appeared in an attachment to official documents on the loan agreement for the land. It describes events leading up to closure of the deal.
The original attachment said a school official reported Akie was shown around the school on April 25th, 2014 and that she encouraged the school to go ahead with the deal, saying the land is a good property.
Numerous mentions of other politicians' names were found in the original documents, suggesting that officials were mindful of connections between the school and influential lawmakers. The names had all been deleted in the altered documents.
