JAPAN’S first lady, Akie Abe, once known mainly for embracing progressive causes that put her at odds with her conservative spouse, is now in the hot seat as doubts revive about a murky land sale to a nationalist school with which she had ties.

    The daughter of a confectionary magnate, the 55-year-old has tried to carve out a U.S.-style public “first lady” role in a land where political wives typically stay in the shadows. But that approach comes with risks, acquaintances and experts say.

    “Her ideas and those of other wives of prime ministers are different,” said Yu Toyonaga, head of a non-profit organization promoting organic rice, who has done volunteer work with the first lady. “Rather than being a woman who is ‘useful’ within a male-dominated society, she wants to interact ... as an autonomous person.”

    Japan’s emboldened opposition parties have called for Akie Abe to appear in parliament to explain her links to Moritomo Gakuen, a nationalist school operator at the center of the cronyism scandal, which has sliced Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s support ratings in his biggest crisis since coming to power in 2006.

    Gakuen snapped up state-owned land at a price well below market value, with the opposition claiming his ties to the Abe family helped grease the deal. 

    The scandal, which came to light last year, flared further earlier this month when it was found that finance ministry documents regarding sale had been altered, including deleting her name.

    When Shinzo Abe first took office in 2006, his freewheeling, flamenco-dancing socialite wife was seen as a political asset, helping to soften his hawkish image.

    But some pundits have now labeled her “Abenorisk” — a pun on “Abenomics,” her husband’s economic policy — as the scandal dents Shinzo Abe’s hopes of winning re-election as head of his ruling party in September.

    “At first, her liberal image was expected to help balance Abe’s conservatism, but she was too freewheeling,” said professor Tomoaki Iwai, who specializes in Japanese politics at Nihon University.

    “She has little awareness of the political significance of her position, while Prime Minister Abe appears to have lost control of her,” Iwai said. 

    “In total her presence is negative to the administration,” he added.

    The land involved in the scandal was sold at a discount of about one-seventh of its value. Before the scandal broke last year, Akie Abe was listed as an honorary principal of the school, which at one point was going to named the “Shinzo Abe Memorial School.”

    She was previously accused of giving the school a cash donation from her husband.

    The scandal hit headlines again this month after an internal investigation by the finance ministry found documents related to the sale were modified to remove the name of Shinzo and Akie Abe, including a mention of her attendance at a meeting between the department and school administrators.

    After the report was released, a finance ministry employee committed suicide. He left a note saying he feared he would be forced to take the blame for the improperly modified documents.

    Shinzo Abe has denied accusations that he and his wife were involved in the sale. Despite this, nearly half of the country wants him to resign.

    According to a new poll by TV Asahi, 48 percent of respondents said Shinzo Abe and his government should quit. Support for the prime minister has slid 11 percentage points since last month.

    The finance ministry admitted March 12 that it had altered documents about the deal, including removing references to Akie Abe.

    The prime minister is opposed to her testifying, but 62 percent of respondents to a Nikkei business daily poll published Monday said she should answer questions in parliament. The survey showed Abe’s support sank to 42 percent while those opposed to his Cabinet jumped to 49 percent.

    Since the Moritomo scandal burst onto the political scene this month, Akie Abe has not commented directly on the matter.

    She has been criticized for her seeming cluelessness about the situation in which she finds herself.

    On the evening of March 9 — the day media reported police were investigating the death of the finance official as a possible suicide at the local bureau handling the land deal — Akie Abe attended a party hosted by a Japanese celebrity, according to a photo posted on the celebrity’s Instagram account, local media reported. The photo does not now appear on that Instagram feed.

    Also on March 9, she posted on Facebook photos of herself smiling at an International Women’s Day art fair the previous day. Some comments posted in response called her “thoughtless” and a “murderer,” while other expressed support.

    Some critics have suggested she should lay low now.

    “Many people are fascinated by Mrs. Akie’s free-style life that doesn’t fit the mold of previous first ladies,” reporter Makiko Takita, a woman, wrote in the conservative Sankei newspaper.

    “But now the administration is in a tight spot and her inappropriate words and actions are ... pulling the rug out from under it,” Takita added. “This is overstepping the bounds towards the prime minister’s wife, but wouldn’t it be a good idea to restrain your activities?”

    Akie Abe has made waves since her husband returned to office in 2012 for a second term with activities that include taking part in an LGBT rights parade, opposing nuclear power, and visiting protesters against a planned U.S. military facility on Okinawa — all positions that resonate with liberals.

    She also runs a tiny organic restaurant and has spoken in favor of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.

    Such progressive views won her the nickname “domestic opposition,” and helped soften Shinzo Abe’s image.

    Akie Abe has also, however, at times publicly aligned more closely with her husband’s conservative views.

    But she has also visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, viewed by neighbors China and South Korea as a symbol of pre-war militarism.

    Those who know Akie Abe see nothing surprising in her holding seemingly paradoxical views. “She doesn’t act based on theory or logic, but from the heart,” said non-profit president Toyonaga.

    “She goes at her own pace, and doesn’t think much about her position as prime minister’s wife,” said a Japanese journalist who has interviewed Akie Abe several times and asked not be identified.

    “I don’t think she has either a ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ political ideology.”

    Born Akie Matsuzaki, Akie was regarded as a socialite. She is from a wealthy Japanese family. Her father is the former president of Morinaga & Co., one of Japan’s largest confectionery companies.

    She was educated at Sacred Heart School in Tokyo, a Roman Catholic private elementary through high school, then graduated from Sacred Heart Professional Training College. Akie  Abe received a master’s degree in social design studies from the Rikkyo University in March 2011.

    Akie Abe previously worked for Dentsu Inc., the world’s largest advertising agency, before marrying Shinzo Abe in 1987.

    Following her husband’s first stint as prime minister, she opened an organic pub in the Kanda district of Tokyo, but is not active in management due to the urging of her mother-in-law. The couple have no children, having undergone unsuccessful fertility treatments earlier in their marriage.

    In the late 1990s, Akie Abe worked as a radio DJ in her husband’s hometown of Shimonoseki. She was popular in the broadcast area and was known by her jockey name, “Akky.”

    Akie Abe has five civil servant aides, versus just one typically assigned to predecessors. This reflects her husband’s extensive travel and numerous foreign visitors, one official said.

    Akie Abe has professed a love for South Korean culture and is known to be a fan of the neighboring country’s heart-throb Bae Yong-joon, a baby-faced soap opera star.

    While Shinzo Abe is teetotal, Akie Abe is known to enjoy an occasional drink. She also studies flamenco dancing, a talent she has shown off for the cameras.

    As a previous Washington Post profile of Akie Abe noted, “Defying stereotypes of the submissive Japanese wife, Akie publicly contradicts her husband’s policies. She’s anti-nuclear while he is adamant that it is needed for energy. She opposes his tsunami-protection levee plan and enjoys Korean culture while he battles with Seoul.”

    On March 17, she attended a social event as a guest speaker, reportedly telling the audience, “Sometimes I regret my past but I want to value present time without worrying or fearing what will happen.”(SD-Agencies)