The way the government tells it, Japan is in dire need of veterinarians.
In a speech in Kobe last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly announced his intention to spearhead an effort to create new veterinary departments in universities across the nation.
The announcement may have been an attempt to rebuff the accusation that the government's approval of a new veterinary department — the first in 52 years — at a university run by Abe's longtime confidant, Kotaro Kake, had anything to do with favoritism. Instead, the government explains creating more veterinary departments will help alleviate the shortage of animal doctors.
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