With the publication of a suicide note by a former Finance Ministry official and subsequent lawsuit by his widow, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal has returned to haunt Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But with Abe saying the issue has been settled and Japan finding itself in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, it is unclear how much of an issue it will be in the current Diet session. Here’s a look back at the scandal and most recent developments.
What was the Moritomo Gakuen scandal?
It began in Osaka with allegations of favoritism that led to revelations of a cover-up. Moritomo Gakuen is a private school operator in Osaka that was run by Yasunori Kagoike and his wife, Junko, in June 2016, when they purchased an 8,770-square-meter plot of land in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, to build an elementary school. Moritomo Gakuen’s kindergarten had attracted local and then national and international media attention for its forcing children to recite the prewar Imperial Rescript on Education.