The education ministry confirmed Tuesday the existence of a newly reported ministry document suggesting the involvement of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Kake Gakuen scandal, further deepening suspicion of alleged government favoritism for the Okayama-based school operator.
On Monday, public broadcaster NHK reported that it obtained a document that was produced by a ministry official last year which allegedly provides a summary of what Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told Yutaka Tokiwa, head of the higher education bureau, during a meeting on Oct. 21.
"We've found a file identical to the document in an (online) shared folder of the Technical Education Division," education minister Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference on Tuesday.