The core of the controversy over the plan by Kake Gakuen to open a new veterinary medical department of its university in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, goes much deeper than the feud between the Prime Minister's Office and the education ministry over a series of documents pointing to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "intent" for pushing the project. Behind the project is a move to overhaul interests involved in the nation's stockbreeding industry, a trend that could eventually affect government's forestry, fisheries and agriculture policies, including those on rice.
The issue over Kake Gakuen, an Okayama-based school operator led by a longtime friend of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, first made headlines in mid-March. But the beginning of the story dates back to about a year ago — when a Lower House seat in the Fukuoka No. 6 electoral district was vacated by the death of Kunio Hatoyama of the Liberal Democratic Party. In the by-election that followed, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga supported Hatoyama's son Jiro, who in turn was challenged by Ken Kurauchi, son of Isao Kurauchi, head of the LDP's Fukuoka Prefecture Chapter. Kurauchi's campaign was backed by LDP bigwigs like Taro Aso, deputy prime minister and finance minister, and Makoto Koga, former LDP secretary general. The party ended up seeing two candidates from its ranks compete for the seat.
An important point in the by-election was that the elder Kurauchi, who served in the Fukuoka prefectural assembly for eight terms, was chairman of the Japan Veterinary Medical Association, while Aso headed an LDP caucus representing the interests of veterinarians. Despite his close ties with the incumbent deputy prime minister, the younger Kurauchi was roundly defeated by Hatoyama in the Oct. 23 by-election — a result that exposed the father's waning political influence. Subsequently, the government's process for authorizing Kake Gakuen's plan to build a new veterinary medical department made rapid progress.