A former executive assistant to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted Thursday that he had met officials from a school operator run by Abe's close friend several times in the lead-up to its application for a state-sponsored deregulation project in 2015, but denied helping Abe pull a favor for his confidant.
Tadao Yanase last month flatly denied a report by the Asahi Shimbun daily that he had met officials from the city of Imabari and Ehime Prefecture in April 2015, "as far as my memory goes."
Making his first Diet appearance since the report came out, however, Yanase downgraded his categorical denial Thursday, saying he may have met them after all.