Japan Press Weekly

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2017 May 31 - June 6 [POLITICS]

Opinion poll on ‘Kake Gakuen’ scandal: 70% are not convinced by gov’t explanation

More than 70% of the general public in a recent opinion poll said that the government has not sufficiently explained its position regarding the allegation that Prime Minister Abe Shinzo abused his power to favor his close friend who runs the school corporation “Kake Gakuen”.

The Japan News Network on June 3 and 4 conducted an opinion poll in regard to the scandal in which PM Abe allegedly put pressure on the Education Ministry to approve Kake Gakuen’s plan to establish a veterinary school. In the survey, 72% of the respondents said that they are not convinced by the government explanation in regard to the scandal, while 16% said otherwise.

The survey also asked a question about leaked documents, which are claimed to be compiled by the Education Ministry. The documents indicate that the Cabinet Office in a meeting with the Education Ministry said that the ministry should accept the application for Kake’s new veterinary school because that is “the will of the prime minister”. The government insists that the documents are not confirmed to be authentic. On the other hand, former Administrative Vice Minister of Education Maekawa Kihei stated that the materials are genuine. In response to the question, 58% said that Maekawa’s remark is more trustworthy than the government’s response.

Past related articles:
> Ex-Vice Minister of Education: Documents are genuine [May 26, 2017]
> Internal documents show how ‘Kake Gakuen’ came in first [May 18 & 23, 2017]