In the latest twist in the Kake Gakuen scandal, education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi revealed Friday that a three-year-old email has been found linking the Cabinet Office with a ministry official — the latest sign that the account given by one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's former secretaries may not be credible.
The email, sent on April 2, 2015, touched on the possibility of setting up a meeting between former aide Tadao Yanase and officials from Kake Gakuen, Ehime Prefecture and the city of Imabari, even though Yanase denies that Abe did any favors for the school operator run by his friend.
It is almost certain that the discovery of the ministry email will further deepen public suspicion that Yanase met the officials to assist with Kake Gakuen's application to open a rare veterinary department at a university situated in a special economic zone in Imabari.