Daily Times

Japan’s emboldened opposition parties have called for Akie Abe to appear in parliament to explain her links with a nationalist school operator at the centre of the cronyism scandal.

The operator, who at one point named her the honorary principal of his new school, snapped up state-owned land at a price well below market value, with the opposition claiming his ties to the Abe family helped grease the deal.

The scandal flared further when it emerged that finance ministry documents regarding sale had been altered, including deleting her name.

The attention is probably not what Akie Abe expected when she vowed to raise the profile of the prime minister’s wife following a series of predecessors who shunned the limelight.

While Abe fends off political pressure to resign, his wife has continued her active presence on social media, posting images and comments on her Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Her social media activity once landed her in hot water when she stunned followers by posting an image of a shirtless man with the word “Akie” and an arrow mark written on his chest. The post was quickly deleted.