abes wife defense minister ensnared in school scandal creditkazuhiro nogiagence francepresse getty imagesmarch 21 2017tokyo prime minister shinzo abe of japan has staked a significant part of his governing agenda on his plans to empower women but an unrelenting scandal over allegations that a rightwing education group received improper political favors has ensnared two of the most prominent women in mr abes life his wife akie abe and his defense minister tomomi inadathe scandal has dented mr abes popularity and his feminist credentials have been especially hard hitas the scandal began to dominate headlines last month mrs abe resigned as honorary principal of a new school planned by the rightwing group in osaka the group moritomo gakuen promotes elements from japans prewar patriotic school curriculum and bought land from the government at a steep discountlast week the leader of the group said mrs abe gave him an envelope of cash two years ago as a donation from the prime minister a claim mr abe has vociferously deniedms inada japans second female defense minister whom mr abe has been grooming to be his successor is fighting calls for her resignation after she retracted a statement that she had never represented the school group in a lawsuit in fact she appeared in court on its behalf in 2004 she said she had initially forgotten and apologized in parliamenthighprofile women are often scrutinized in japan which ranks the lowest among advanced industrial countries for female representation in parliament but the emergence of mrs abe and ms inada as central figures in the school scandal has emboldened critics who have long portrayed them as problematic advocates for womens rightsmrs abes feminism is quite shallow said jiro yamaguchi a professor of political science at hosei university he added that although mrs abe appeared occasionally at events that campaigned for women in agriculture or innovation in womens worklife balance the first lady had not been seen as committed to real systemic changemrs abe who did not respond to requests for comment has supported womens causes in iran and is a patron of the asian university for women in bangladesh whose mission is to provide a college education to women from deprived backgrounds in her memoir i live my own life mrs abe said she supported her husbands efforts to create a society in which women can shine writing that women dont need to work just like men doimagecreditjrmie souteyrat for the new york timesthe japanese news media sometimes describes mrs abe as the prime ministers athome opposition party because she has expressed more progressive views on issues like lesbian and gay rights and nuclear power in addition to supporting womens causesbut the disclosure of her ties to the rightwing school group has undermined that reputationmoritomo gakuen already operates a kindergarten that requires students to recite the imperial rescript on education a 19thcentury royal decree that prescribes that subjects be ever united in loyalty and filial piety and that husbands and wives be harmonious its leader yasunori