With suicide note and lawsuit, Moritomo scandal back to haunt Abe
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 ...
Abe denies wife attended cherry blossom party in defiance of coronavirus calls to abstain
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that his wife, Akie, did not attend a cherry blossom viewing party in Tokyo despite calls to refrain from outdoor gathering to help contain the coronavirus outbreak. Abe made the remarks during Friday's session of the Upper House Budget ...
Suicide note reignites Moritomo scandal that rocked Abe administration
The wife of a former Finance Ministry official who killed himself filed a lawsuit against the ministry and the former chief of its financial bureau, seeking damages of ¥110 million.
Moritomo Gakuen couple in Abe cronyism scandal found guilty of fraud
The former head of a nationalist school operator and his wife were found guilty of receiving ¥56.4 million in government subsidies illegally for the construction of an elementary school.
Support act: Behind every Japanese prime minister is a fascinating first lady
When Chizuko Obuchi's husband, Keizo, became prime minister of Japan in July 1998 and the couple moved into the official residence, she was taken aback by what she found. "People from overseas might be surprised to hear it, but there was absolutely no one and ...
WAW/W20 talks close with a call for men to be more involved in women's issues
Key to empowering women is changing people’s mindsets and involving men in dealing more with women’s issues, participants at the joint World Assembly for Women and Women 20 summit hear.
As Diet wraps up, Abe re-emerges as front-runner for LDP election
As recently as spring, the Abe administration was in disarray, weakened by what appeared to be an unstoppable flow of scandals and missteps.
Moritomo chief Yasunori Kagoike freed on bail, dares Abe to ‘tell the truth’ about Osaka land deal
Former Moritomo Gakuen President Yasunori Kagoike and his wife have spent about 10 months behind bars since they were arrested on suspicion of subsidy fraud.
Scandal-hit Cabinet's support rate rebounds to 42.4% in latest poll
The public support rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe climbed 3.7 points to 42.4 percent in a weekend opinion poll despite a document-tampering scandal at the Finance Ministry that has rocked his government in recent weeks. In the meantime, 47.5 percent of ...
A day after Sagawa's testimony, where do things stand on Japan's Moritomo scandal?
Following the high-profile Diet testimony by a key former Finance Ministry official, ruling lawmakers are trying to bring an end to the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, which allegedly involved Akie Abe, the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But Nobuhisa Sagawa's testimony revealed little, answering few ...
Abe's best chance for survival as LDP chief lies in his diplomatic skills
The passage of a record-high 2018 spending budget brings to closure a first half year in the Diet that saw the prime minister’s approval rating nosedive.
Abe 'wasn't involved' in doctoring documents, key Moritomo witness Nobuhisa Sagawa tells Diet
In sworn testimony, the former Finance Ministry official categorically denies any involvement of Abe, his wife or his top allies in a document falsification scandal.
