Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike on Friday denied allegations published in a monthly magazine that she drafted a fake graduation document from Cairo University when she ran for governor back in 2020.

Koike¡¯s remarks came after monthly magazine Bungeishunju ran an interview with her former aide, Toshiro Kojima, who was an Environment Ministry bureaucrat when Koike led the ministry, saying she asked him to help her draft a document that says she graduated from the university.

¡°I am aware that the article has been published but as I have said time and time again, the premise is wrong to begin with ¡ª they say that I have not graduated, but I have and (Cairo University) has proven my graduation as well,¡± Koike said during a news conference.

Leading up to the gubernatorial election in 2020, Koike¡¯s academic credentials were put under scrutiny, and eventually she was pressured into showing a graduation certificate from the school.

In response, Cairo University released a statement in June of that year through the Egyptian Embassy which stated that Koike had graduated from the school.

In the Bungeishunju article published online on Tuesday, however, Kojima had alleged that he was asked by Koike back then to create ¡°proof¡± of her graduation, and another former aide of Koike, referred to by the pseudonym ¡°A,¡± recently told him that A was the one who wrote the university statement.

But Koike again denied allegations that she had falsified her academic credentials.

¡°I have offered explanations not just at news conferences but at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly as well,¡± she said. ¡°The last time everyone made a fuss over it was June 2020, right before the Tokyo governor election ¡ª it is very disappointing to see similar stories come out every election.¡±

The Tokyo gubernatorial election is coming up in July, with Koike expected to run for her third term as governor.