TOKYO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's regional revitalization minister Kozo Yamamoto on Thursday denied reports that he had conveyed to the operator of a new veterinary school, currently at the center of an influence-peddling scandal involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that it would be selected to be opened months before official approval was given.
According to multiple media outlets here, Yamamoto is said to have visited the Japan Veterinary Medical Association on November 17 last year and told senior association officials that the new department would be constructed in the western Japan island of Shikoku.
Yamamoto, in charge of the Cabinet Office, which oversees specially deregulated zones, reportedly told the senior officials there that the government intended to approve a plan by Kake Educational Institution, run by Abe's close friend Kotaro Kake, to open a new veterinary school in a specially deregulated zone in Imabari city, in Ehime Prefecture.
Amid an overabundance of veterinary professionals in Japan, the opening of the school would mark the first of its kind in 50 years in Japan. The association has, sources close to the matter said, long been opposed to the opening of a new veterinary school due to the surplus of vets already working in Japan.
At the point Yamamoto made the remarks to the officials at the association, the government had yet to make a decision on the location of the school's opening, or other pertinent details.
Yamamoto has also denied allegations he gave the officials a "heads-up" on the intentions of the government, stating that he had only mentioned that a new school would be opened, without mentioning a specific location.
While admitting financial matters of Imabari city were mentioned in the November 17 meeting, he also denied mentioning Kake Educational Institution specifically and said that Kyoto Prefecture was also being floated as another candidate location for the new school.
Local media reported Thursday that along with local governments, Kake Educational Institution has applied for permission to open a new veterinary department in the specially deregulated zone 15 times since 2007. All of the applications were rejected.
But according to whistle-blower Kihei Maekawa, former vice education minister, official ministry documents indicate that Abe's influence was being used in favor of Kake being selected.
Maekawa has also said that aides close to Abe had also exerted pressure for the school to be selected and its construction expedited, according to explanations on the matter he gave in a special Diet session.
Abe has, in a reversal of his previous stance, agreed to attend special parliament sessions next week to be grilled on allegations that he had used his influence to facilitate the decision to open the school to benefit his close friend.
Scandals involving Abe and senior members of his Cabinet and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers have rocked the prime minister and the LDP of late, with many political analysts believing the administration is on exceedingly shaky ground.
Recent media polls have shown that the support rate for Abe's Cabinet has plummeted to historic lows as a result of the scandals and the manner of which Abe has persistently leveraged his position to enact controversial legislation.
The Japanese public's overall mistrust of the prime minister has risen of late exponentially, the polls showed, with the prime minister grappling to win back approval with the LDP's crushing defeat in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Election still a recent memory for the embattled leader.
