Japan Press Weekly

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2017 June 7 - 13 [POLITICS]

JCP Koike: Gov’t decision to investigate Education Ministry’s internal documents over ‘Kake Gakuen’ scandal is essential

Pushed by the public demand to get to the truth, the Abe government on June 9 announced that it will investigate into the Education Ministry’s internal documents which indicate that the Cabinet Office had put pressure on the ministry regarding the opening of a “Kake Gakuen” veterinary school.

In the internal documents, the Education Ministry states that the Cabinet Office pressured the ministry to accelerate its pace in the procedures to approve the Kake Gakuen veterinary school by using the phrase “the prime minister’s intent.” Maekawa Kihei, former administrative head of the ministry, stated to the press, “The internal documents are genuine.”

In the meantime, the Abe administration has insisted that there is no need to inspect the documents because the source of the documents is unknown.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on the same day at the press conference pointed out that the investigation of the Education Ministry’s internal documents is essential. He said that the government can no longer ignore the general public’s anger.

Koike stressed that in addition to the probe into the internal documents, the summoning of witnesses, including Maekawa, and intensive Diet deliberations with the attendance of PM Abe are required to uncover the truth.

Past related articles:
> Ex-Education Ministry bureaucrat: PM Abe’s aide exerts pressure to open veterinary school [May 31, 2017]
> 4 opposition parties jointly demand summoning of ex-administrative head of Education Ministry [May 27, 2017]
> Ex-Vice Minister of Education: Documents are genuine [May 26, 2017]