It began as a dream. Conservatives and nationalists, angry at what they saw as a public education system that taught a self-denigrating, incorrect view of Japan's 20th century history and upset at social changes they felt had led to a loss of respect among children for Japan's traditional values and norms, would create a private elementary school in Osaka tailored to their beliefs.
Now, however, the opening of educational entity Moritomo Gakuen's new Mizuho no Kuni elementary school (almost named Shinzo Abe Elementary School), scheduled for April 1, has been postponed indefinitely.
It was revealed in February that the government land purchased for the school had been heavily discounted in a shady deal. That scandal led to revelations of Moritomo Gakuen's links to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie, and Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, as well as to allegations so far unproven beyond a reasonable doubt by the entity's chief Yasunori Kagoike that the new school received, via Akie Abe, a ¥1 million donation from the prime minister himself.
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