Japan's 'sontaku' clouds where the buck stops in school scandal


  • World
  • Thursday, 15 Mar 2018

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso attend a lower house budget committee session at the parliament in Tokyo, Japan, February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Figuring out who is to blame in a widening political scandal that threatens Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is being complicated by a practice known as "sontaku", which loosely translates as "following unspoken orders".

Abe and Finance Minister Taro Aso are under fire after the ministry released altered documents related to the discounted sale of state-owned land to a school operator with ties to Abe's wife, raising the possibility of a cover-up.

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