The House of Representatives gave Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Junichiro Koga permission Wednesday to skip Diet business and travel to the United States to settle allegations he lied about receiving a degree from a California university.
The House of Representatives Committee on Rules and Administration will allow Koga, 55, to take five days off to resolve suspicions that he lied about his academic background by claiming he graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu.
In filing for the Nov. 9 Lower House election as a candidate of the DPJ, the main opposition party, Koga claimed he has an undergraduate degree from Pepperdine.
He won the election, beating Taku Yamasaki, then vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party and a close aide to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, by a margin of some 10,000 votes.
Suspicions emerged last weekend following media reports alleging his academic background is fictitious. On Tuesday, Pepperdine said Koga was a student but never graduated.
Koga claims he attended the university from 1978 to 1982 and received a "graduation certificate" through his lawyer, but lost it.
Koga indicated Sunday he would consider resigning his Diet seat if he lied about his academic background. He retracted the remark the following day.