A Meiji University law school professor suspected of leaking questions from this year's national bar examination to a former student said he did so because he was "fond of" her, sources close to the matter said.
"I was fond of the female exam-taker, who was my student, and I wanted her to pass the test," Koichi Aoyagi, 67, was quoted as saying during an investigation by the Justice Ministry.
Because Aoyagi did not receive any money from the woman, who is in her 20s, prosecutors who are investigating the case as a violation of the confidentiality provision in the national civil service law, suspect that he leaked the questions without being asked to do so.