Suspicions are deepening over the discount sale of a government-owned tract of land to an Osaka-based school operator for the construction of a new elementary school. The sale to Moritomo Gakuen has drawn heightened attention because of the controversy over a kindergarten it runs that apparently promotes patriotism reminiscent of the nation's wartime militaristic education — and because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie, was listed as the planned new school's "honorary principal" until just recently, with the operator using the name of Abe himself at one point to raise funds to build the school.
The prime minister has sought to distance himself from the controversy, denying any links to the school operator. He said he protested to Moritomo Gakuen for soliciting donations to establish what it initially sought to name Shinzo Abe Memorial Elementary School without his approval, and that his wife, who had given speeches at the kindergarten in 2014 and 2015, resigned from her position at the school late last month. Whether there is any connection between Abe and the operator, the questions over the land deal must be answered in a convincing manner.
In June last year, the 8,770-sq.-meter national government-owned land tract in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, was sold to Moritomo Gakuen for ¥134 million — a mere 14 percent of its appraisal value of ¥956 million — after the local bureau of the Finance Ministry deducted some ¥800 million for what it estimated would be the cost of removing waste material that had been found in underground soil at the site. In 2015, Moritomo Gakuen signed a lease contract for the land on the condition that it would buy the tract within 10 years, and started construction of the school building. The waste material in question was reportedly found in the soil in March 2016.