TOKYO — Japanese lawmakers questioned Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Parliament for a second day Tuesday about a cronyism scandal, with some opposition members accusing him of testifying falsely a day earlier when he denied using his influence to help a friend.

Documents and whistleblowers suggest that officials bent rules and provided special advice to Abe’s friend Kotaro Kake to help him open a new veterinary school in western Japan.

The two-day hearing in Parliament focused on whether Abe was personally involved.

Abe repeatedly denied using his influence to help Kake, and said he learned of the plan for the school only after Kake submitted a formal application in January, correcting his earlier explanations of when he first heard of it.

‘‘We meet as friends, but we never seek or give favors,’’ Abe said. ‘‘I have never advised him to visit the ministers in charge.’’

Opposition lawmakers criticized Abe for giving several different dates for when he first learned of his friend’s plan for a new veterinary school, with some accusing him of perjury. They said it was impossible for Abe to be unaware of his friend’s years-long plan until January if other officials already knew.

‘‘It’s totally unbelievable,’’ said Akira Koike, an opposition Communist Party lawmaker.

Opposition Democratic Party senior lawmaker Hiroshi Ogushi told lawmakers on Monday that Abe and Kake met seven times last year, six of them after July when the school plan was being pushed.

Since the late 2000s, Kake and the city of Imabari had worked together to open a veterinary school in the region, but were unsuccessful until the creation of a special economic zone directly headed by Abe.

Abe is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet, after scandals and the railroading of unpopular legislation pushed his approval ratings as low as 26 percent.

associated press