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File implies Abe's specific instruction given in 'favoritism' scandal

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Despite releasing the document, the ministry repeatedly denied that the remarks were actually made by Hagiuda

Lol, let that spin sink in!

Abe's Liberal Democratic Party refused Tuesday a request by the main opposition Democratic Party for a special parliamentary session to tackle the claims outside of the Diet sitting schedule.

My way or the low way!!

the staff who wrote it.

Patsy already being prepped

Lol, how I love blatant corruption from the so-called leading democratic nations. And yet, the next play for dear leader is some false flag or worse yet natural calamity. By the time everyone wakes up, it will most assuredly be too late!! Word to the wise, better have an impeccable plan B if you plan on setting up shop long term!!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Is Abe a good candidate for prosecution under the new conspiracy law?

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Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, stressed Tuesday that all stages of the selection process for the vet school project were carried out in accordance with the law and without bias

How can Suga talk such rubbish without being laughed out of the room? Everyone knows the truth: that dishonest Abe insisted that Kake Educational Institute be favoured ahead of others. Only a fool would believe otherwise, and that fool appears to be Suga.

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ScroteToday09:52 am JST

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, stressed Tuesday that all stages of the selection process for the vet school project were carried out in accordance with the law and without bias

How can Suga talk such rubbish without being laughed out of the room?

If the room is full of unquestioning sycophants from the Sankei Shimbun, the Yomiuri Shimbun and NHK, maybe?

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How long will it be before the LDP backroom boys see Abe as a liability? Will they be willing to go down with him before giving him the hand on the shoulder?

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It seems that some inarticulate Abe fan does not like the cut of our jib and can only communicate with down votes. It's disappointing, I would be interested to read what there is to say in his defense but defending him seems to be beyond his supporters' abilities. They must be very simple, naive people.

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Suga and Abe need to be put in jail. Criminals.

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"It would be out of the question for me to make specific arrangements or give instructions to favor Kake Educational Institution,"

That's the point -- don't be stupid enough to think that anyone besides the sheeple would believe that "being out of the question" has stopped you in the past. International reports on this are basically laughing at the "Trump-like" false disbelief expressed by Abe and Co. Reminds me of the "Must be 18" buttong to enter a porn site and some teen saying, "I am not 18 and therefore there is no way I could have seen it, according to the law.".

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the system of special zones, which have looser regulations on certain activities as part of the Abe administration's growth strategy, was used to benefit the educational operator.

This statement makes the mind boggle.

The implication is that the rest of the country must be even more deeply buried in red-tape regulations than in the special zones. Yet even in the (relatively) more loosely regulated "special zones" the government still maintains such powers as to be able to cause such a scandal as this one.

My goodness... I knew that Japan needs structural reforms, but obviously I have underestimated the extent to which they are required.

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Well on the way to meeting his pledge to 'regain public trust' I see.

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Simon Foston

Well maybe they are, but they are not different from people who criticize Abe in English, are they? To me it feels like an American meddling with internal affairs which I thought liberals detested. I sincerely hope DP or any other party to offer viable alternate plans to create better parliaments. DP opposing Abe 100% of the time is unreal. It is too clear what DP is up to, objections for the sake of objections. 

I'm not really sure why there is so much support for DP in comment sections here or in Japan Times.

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He is tired to explain something not clear and say next need more explanation, this case to another (like us: Defense force to be introduction of army in future) What does he want to change constitution to remain in Japan's history a page with his name? Probably will be more scandalized issued with his name some decades later, some of his party either not agreed completely his administration policy.

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@Nao Wait, you are saying liberals don't like free speech and open criticism? Wherever did you get that idea? "meddling" - yeah, that's what nationalists say for sure. I think you have this all backwards. Free expression is a classical "liberal" concept for sure.

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NaoToday09:05 pm JST

Simon Foston

Well maybe they are, but they are not different from people who criticize Abe in English, are they?

I don't know how you figure that one out, as Abe's critics here are very vocal and his supporters are curiously reticent to say much.

I sincerely hope DP or any other party to offer viable alternate plans to create better parliaments. DP opposing Abe 100% of the time is unreal. It is too clear what DP is up to, objections for the sake of objections. 

Well, that's a nice sentiment, but face facts. The DPJ won in 2009 because the LDP had so useless. The LDP won in 2012 because the DPJ had been so useless. And quite honestly, I couldn't care less right now about "viable alternative plans". Abe and the LDP need to be opposed. They need to be exposed for the odious cabal of sleazy crooks that they really are and then got rid of.

I'm not really sure why there is so much support for DP in comment sections here or in Japan Times.

Is there? Really? Well, if there is it's for the same reason they won in 2009. They're not the LDP.

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@shallots

I thought liberals wanted to bring troops back home and negotiate with Russia and China. Maybe most liberals don't, but one Californian liberal I've come across advocates such things. 

@Simon Foston

I wonder how many who criticizes LDP in English can do so in Japanese with the same fluency. Japanese are not equipped to use English like many countries which had been colonized for centuries. It is naive to assume Japanese (40% of whom support Abe) will defend Abe in English easily and readily when it is not their first language. 

Abe's support dropped this month, but still 40% support him. From the figure, I assume Japanese may be unhappy with how LDP handled scandals, but don't believe Abe to be guilty. Media accounts of incidents need to be more convincing rather than simple bashing for the sake of bashing and selling. Maekawa is a coward and supporting his accusations without any criticism is lacking in intelligence.   

Without LDP Japan will be in jeopardy the next day. Bashing LDP without any viable substitute is advocating for the destruction of Japan.

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NaoToday05:22 am JST

Japanese are not equipped to use English like many countries which had been colonized for centuries. It is naive to assume Japanese (40% of whom support Abe) will defend Abe in English easily and readily when it is not their first language. 

That's just an excuse. Never mind Japanese people, I don't assume many of them will be reading articles here or commenting on them. What about foreign readers with good Japanese skills and a decent amount of knowledge about Japan? No one with any degree of familiarity with this topic has anything good to say about Abe or the LDP. Anything said in his defense is invariably flimsy and easily dismissed.

Without LDP Japan will be in jeopardy the next day. Bashing LDP without any viable substitute is advocating for the destruction of Japan.

That just sounds like hysterical, paranoid nonsense. Talk in hyperbole like that and you are not going to be taken seriously.

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"To me it feels like an American meddling with internal affairs which I thought liberals detested."

First off, don't confuse liberal and left. Unable to vote, are you saying the 2.23 million long-term and permanent foreign residents in Japan should also remain silent? Perhaps we should be monitored if we're too critical of Abe?

As for the floundering DP, I haven't seen much if any love for them for several years, at least not since they briefly took power and morphed into an incompetent pile of rubble, aided by the Obama administration, an entrenched bureaucracy and Japan's statist media.

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Watch out for PAC-3 pictures in town and NK's threat to divert the public attention

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The government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, stressed Tuesday that all stages of the selection process for the vet school project were carried out in accordance with the law and without bias.

Just like the move from Tsukiji to Toyosu or the Moritomo issue? Yes, I know the Tsukiji debacle was at the local level, but the point is that we always here this quote before some records or testimony is made available that show the fallacy of this quote.

In regards to Japanese media accounts of scandals, we all know how free the press here isn't. Oh, you don't fall in line? Okay, you are no longer a member of the press club, which is to say you no longer have access.

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@Simon Foston

My guess is most Japanese are better in reading English than composing/speaking it. I've found someone expressing the same surprise/question as I have with google search. S/he was asking how come so many foreigners seem to be negative against Japan?  I haven't seen foreign person's negative comments about Abe written in Japanese yet. There may be many of them in Asahi, but I'll never subscribe to them after the scam was disclosed regarding two Yoshidas. Treating Abe as if he was a power hungry money mongering beast seems extreme to me, but I believe it is the reality for liberals. 

@jcapan

I would think it meddling if a liberal who promotes shrinking of the military was putting down leaders of other countries with passion. It isn't about the freedom of speech, but a hypocrisy.

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NaoToday02:55 pm JST

@Simon Foston

My guess is most Japanese are better...

Didn't I say never mind Japanese people?

Treating Abe as if he was a power hungry money mongering beast seems extreme to me,

Sounds like a pretty accurate description, actually.

but I believe it is the reality for liberals. 

Where's this "liberal" stuff coming from all of a sudden? Are you equating all foreigners with views on Japan with "liberals"?

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Still unconvinced why Abe is hated so much...

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NaoToday  04:09 pm JST

Still unconvinced why Abe is hated so much...

Well. As a third generation Diet member from the Abe/Kishi family he owes much of his success in politics to his family's money, connections and brand name rather than to any particular merits of his own (are there any?). Without that seishu seijika pedigree I doubt he would even have got elected in Yamaguchi in the first place. So that's basically despicable.

Then, going back to when he was LDP Secretary General, there was the issue of his bulling NHK to censor a documentary about the Showa Emperor, and the likelihood that he was involved in stage managing town hall meetings by filling them with people paid to ask prepared questions.

His first stint as PM was an unmitigated disaster, characterised by absolutely terrible picks for Cabinet positions. Then he just kind of disappeared, and presumably schemed and connived his way back into prominence in the LDP, getting himself a second chance at the premiership that he really didn't deserve. He even said himself that in 2012 people were voting against the DPJ rather than voting for the LDP.

Then there's "Abenomics," i.e. lots of grand-sounding talk but nothing of any significance achieved whatsoever, although I think the real agenda is conning the public into thinking Abe's on their side while all he's really interested in is old-style LDP pork barrel politics as usual.

Finally, there are the Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Gakuen scandals. Take Abe at his word that he wasn't involved if you like, I don't think his word is worth the paper it's written on. I won't get into his membership of Nippon Kaigi, which would be a bit like Angela Merkel joining an association started by Waffen SS veterans.

So - plenty to hate. What's to like?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Is there any one who want to challenge Abe leadership in LDP?

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A lot of people are still supporting Abe. However, he will lose his credibility if those kind of problems continue to occur. Japanese people are feeling disgusted with political scandals, so hi should uncover the truth immediately.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well. As a third generation Diet member from the Abe/Kishi family he owes much of his success in politics to his family's money, connections and brand name rather than to any particular merits of his own (are there any?). Without that seishu seijika pedigree I doubt he would even have got elected in Yamaguchi in the first place. So that's basically despicable.

Then, going back to when he was LDP Secretary General, there was the issue of his bulling NHK to censor a documentary about the Showa Emperor, and the likelihood that he was involved in stage managing town hall meetings by filling them with people paid to ask prepared questions.

His first stint as PM was an unmitigated disaster, characterised by absolutely terrible picks for Cabinet positions. Then he just kind of disappeared, and presumably schemed and connived his way back into prominence in the LDP, getting himself a second chance at the premiership that he really didn't deserve. He even said himself that in 2012 people were voting against the DPJ rather than voting for the LDP.

Then there's "Abenomics," i.e. lots of grand-sounding talk but nothing of any significance achieved whatsoever, although I think the real agenda is conning the public into thinking Abe's on their side while all he's really interested in is old-style LDP pork barrel politics as usual.

Finally, there are the Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Gakuen scandals. Take Abe at his word that he wasn't involved if you like, I don't think his word is worth the paper it's written on. I won't get into his membership of Nippon Kaigi, which would be a bit like Angela Merkel joining an association started by Waffen SS veterans.

So - plenty to hate. What's to like?

I don't agree with his pedigree being the problem because Abe is clearly better than average politicians who make bewildering comments on a regular basis, but I do remember the incident with NHK TV programs. What he's done may be called as something small when compared to what GHQ regulated during its occupancy though. 

What I think is good about Abe: Abe was quick to extend his condolence to a grieving mother of Matsuri Takahashi from Dentsu and tried all his best to ban overtimes however limited the result may have been. Recently minimum wage in my area did rise. He was also very quick to apologize when his minister made offending remarks about Fukushima. 

It may have been during his first time as a PM, but he tried to create openings in civil service for those who graduated in an employment ice age. I can't recall every incidents, but Abe has never struck me as inhumane or an arrogant dictator. 

I can imagine why the West may regard Abe as dangerous and consider him as a potential Hitler, but Abe doesn't suffer from neurosis like Hitler. Abe's grandfather never got along with Tojo, either. 

I believe Abe has been pro constitutional reform from long before the Japanese public became aware of risks of neighboring countries, not only of North Korea and Russia, but also of China and South Korea. I don't think it was a coincidence. Ever since LDP took over, threats from these countries stopped worsening which I think is not a small accomplishment.

Compared to CCP, CCP/Kim III friendly Moon, and Putin, to me Abe is an ANGEL!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

NaoToday  07:47 pm JST

I don't agree with his pedigree being the problem because Abe is clearly better than average politicians who make bewildering comments on a regular basis...

So he's not a complete imbecile. Great. I speak Japanese better than my son, who's less than a year old and can't yet form any words at all. Does that make me a better than average Japanese speaker? No, "average" politicians behave with a lot more tact and sense than the ones who spout out nonsense, so saying Abe is better than the likes of them is really not saying a lot.

What I think is good about Abe: Abe was quick to extend his condolence to a grieving mother of Matsuri Takahashi from Dentsu and tried all his best to ban overtimes however limited the result may have been. Recently minimum wage in my area did rise. He was also very quick to apologize when his minister made offending remarks about Fukushima. 

Good? Barely adequate, more like. I would expect any half-way competent leader to do exactly the same.

It may have been during his first time as a PM, but he tried to create openings in civil service for those who graduated in an employment ice age. I can't recall every incidents, but Abe has never struck me as inhumane or an arrogant dictator. 

There's that phrase again: "he tried." Most politicians try to do the right thing by the public. Do you think Hatoyama, Kan and Noda didn't try to run the government the best way they knew? Sorry, no points for trying. The leaders worth re-electing succeed.

I can imagine why the West may regard Abe as dangerous and consider him as a potential Hitler, but Abe doesn't suffer from neurosis like Hitler. 

No? So you would know, would you? He seems to get a bit neurotic when he's challenged on topics he's sensitive about. Dd you see him ranting at some people protesting against him during one of his election campaign speeches? That was just... low.

Abe's grandfather never got along with Tojo, either. 

However well Nobusuke Kishi did or did not get on with Tojo does not influence what I think of Abe, hence my not mentioning him. Why did you bring him up? Is it something to do, perhaps, with Abe's obvious obsession with rehabilitating his dear, departed grandpa's image and removing the stain he left on the family name?

I believe Abe has been pro constitutional reform from long before the Japanese public became aware of risks of neighboring countries, not only of North Korea and Russia, but also of China and South Korea. I don't think it was a coincidence.

No, the LDP and their friends at the Sankei and Yomiuri groups were all making sure the Japanese public became aware.

Ever since LDP took over, threats from these countries stopped worsening which I think is not a small accomplishment.

In that case they can now stop wasting time trying to revise the Constitution and get on with enacting policies that actually make a positive difference in people's everyday lives, can't they?

Compared to CCP, CCP/Kim III friendly Moon, and Putin, to me Abe is an ANGEL!

Setting the bar somewhat low there I see, like comparing him to the semi-lucid Diet members who blurt out any nonsense they like.

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