Opposition camp lawmakers roared in anger. Stenographers were ordered to stop transcribing. The prime minister accused an opposition leader of lying.
This was the chaotic scene Monday at the Diet during an Upper House Budget Committee session.
The issue in question was a familiar one: The opposition was protesting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's denial that he favored school operator Kake Gakuen — run by his longtime friend Kotaro Kake — for a special deregulation project in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture.