TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Teflon coating appears to be wearing thin as his government struggles to contain the scandal over a shady land sale to a nationalist school operator.
While support for his cabinet has not yet taken a serious hit, opinion polls reveal growing public dissatisfaction with official explanations as to why Moritomo Gakuen was able to buy government land at one-tenth its market value. At issue is whether the discount of 800 million yen ($7.19 million) was appropriate, and whether any political figures were involved in either the sale or the approval process for the school to be built on the plot. If politicians did play a role and money changed hands, that could be considered graft.
