ALICE FRENCH and SAYUMI TAKE,
Nikkei staff writers
July 6, 2023
TOKYO -- One year after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot, questions still surround links between his political party and the Unification Church -- ties that the man charged with his murder claimed as the motive for his actions.
Since the July 8 killing at an election rally in Nara in western Japan, revelations about close connections between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the church, formally known as The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, have shaken public trust in the government. Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, who is awaiting trial for the assassination, said he targeted Abe due to a grudge he held against the church after his mother bankrupted her family by donating large sums to the group.
With Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expected to call a general election as early as this fall, religion's role in Japanese politics and society remains in the spotlight.
As Japan plans events to commemorate the anniversary of Abe's death this weekend, including the unveiling of a monument in his honor in Nara, here are four things to know about how the Unification Church scandal has unfolded so far:
What is the status of the Unification Church in Japan?
The church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by self-proclaimed "reverend" Sun Myung Moon, remains a registered "religious juridical" organization, meaning it holds corporate status and enjoys tax benefits.
The group's legal status has been the subject of speculation since Kishida's government launched an official investigation into its activities late last year. If found to have broken the law or endangered public welfare, the church could be dissolved, losing its religious juridical status.
Since November 2022, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has sent more than 500 questions to the Unification Church, utilizing its "right to question" under Japan's Religious Corporation Law. The queries cover issues such as the church's controversial "spiritual sales" tactics and its intragroup child adoption system. The group has agreed to cooperate with the government's inquiry so long as its constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of religion is not compromised.
Experts do not expect a concrete decision on the church's status anytime soon. "I cannot see the government not issuing a dissolution request," said Hotaka Tsukada, an associate professor of the sociology of religion at Joetsu University of Education. But in order to officially dissolve the group, the issue will have to go to court, and such a case would be lengthy as the church is bound to resist, Tsukada said.
If dissolved, the church would lose its official status and tax exemptions, but could continue to operate. The number of Unification Church members in Japan is unclear, but more than 990 Japanese believers took part in a mass wedding ceremony held in South Korea this May, according to data released by the church.
What about the church's fundraising methods?
Ever since it was revealed that Yamagami's mother, a church member, had bankrupted her family by donating upward of $700,000 to the group, Japan's government has been under pressure to provide support to victims of predatory fundraising methods.
In December, parliament passed a "relief act" for such victims, which bans organizations like the Unification Church from soliciting donations through fear, and gives victims the right to withdraw money found to have been donated under coercion.
Seven months later, the new law has yet to be exercised. Church critics say the legislation is too weak to provide support for most victims, as it does not apply to damages incurred before the act's passage. The church was involved in "spiritual sales" amounting to damages of over $850 million between 1987 and 2021, according to Japan's National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales.
"[The law is] better than nothing," Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Tokyo's Sophia University, told Nikkei Asia. "But not addressing everything that has happened until now is cheating."
In comments to Nikkei Asia, the church said that suggesting members' donations are made under duress is "a dangerous claim that deceives the public," adding it holds "serious concerns" about the new law's impact on people's right to freedom of religion.
How has the scandal affected politics under Kishida?
A Kyodo News survey last August showed that around 80% of the roughly 100 Japanese lawmakers found to have links to the church -- such as having received financial support from the group -- were LDP members. This shook public trust in the party, and by December, Kishida's approval rating had fallen to 35% from a high of 66% last May, according to Nikkei polls.
Kishida has since reshuffled his cabinet to remove church-affiliated members and conducted an internal investigation of the LDP. His approval ratings somewhat recovered in the first half of 2023, rising to 52% ahead of the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May.
But experts say Kishida's efforts were insufficient and that the church -- known for its conservative views on gender and the family -- could still be influencing LDP policy decisions.
The church's influence was in the spotlight last month as Japan passed a new anti-LGBTQ discrimination law on June 16. Political commentators say the LDP's controversial last-minute revisions to the law were made to appease the party's most right-wing members, many of whom maintain links with conservative groups like the church.
Meanwhile, the party came out on top in the latest round of local elections in April, winning 45% of prefectural assembly votes, along with its coalition partner, Komeito. Research by the Asahi Shimbun showed that 90% of prefectural assembly member candidates with links to the church, across all parties, were reelected. In one case, Kazuyoshi Itabashi, an 82-year-old LDP member serving in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, and the former head of the prefecture's branch of a church-affiliated group, was reelected for a 14th term.
The first national test of the scandal's impact on the LDP's popularity could come as early as this fall, if Kishida calls a snap general election.
What do we know about the murder trial?
Yamagami was charged with the murder of Abe and violation of firearms laws in January this year, following months of psychiatric and physical examinations to determine whether he was fit to stand trial. If found guilty, he could face lifetime imprisonment or the death penalty.
His story of financial ruin has garnered some public sympathy. By mid-November last year, more than 9,000 people had signed a petition on the website change.org calling for the severity of his sentence to be lessened on the grounds that he was a victim of the church.
A trial date is yet to be set, but Yamagami's first pretrial hearing, scheduled for June 12, was canceled at the last minute due to an "unidentified object" being delivered to the court in Nara. According to public broadcaster NHK, it was a box containing around 13,000 signatures calling for Yamagami's sentence to be light.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Unification-Church-and-politics/Japan-s-Unification-Church-scandal-lingers-a-year-after-Abe-death
July 6, 2023
TOKYO -- One year after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot, questions still surround links between his political party and the Unification Church -- ties that the man charged with his murder claimed as the motive for his actions.
Since the July 8 killing at an election rally in Nara in western Japan, revelations about close connections between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the church, formally known as The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, have shaken public trust in the government. Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, who is awaiting trial for the assassination, said he targeted Abe due to a grudge he held against the church after his mother bankrupted her family by donating large sums to the group.
With Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expected to call a general election as early as this fall, religion's role in Japanese politics and society remains in the spotlight.
As Japan plans events to commemorate the anniversary of Abe's death this weekend, including the unveiling of a monument in his honor in Nara, here are four things to know about how the Unification Church scandal has unfolded so far:
What is the status of the Unification Church in Japan?
The church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by self-proclaimed "reverend" Sun Myung Moon, remains a registered "religious juridical" organization, meaning it holds corporate status and enjoys tax benefits.
The group's legal status has been the subject of speculation since Kishida's government launched an official investigation into its activities late last year. If found to have broken the law or endangered public welfare, the church could be dissolved, losing its religious juridical status.
Since November 2022, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has sent more than 500 questions to the Unification Church, utilizing its "right to question" under Japan's Religious Corporation Law. The queries cover issues such as the church's controversial "spiritual sales" tactics and its intragroup child adoption system. The group has agreed to cooperate with the government's inquiry so long as its constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of religion is not compromised.
Experts do not expect a concrete decision on the church's status anytime soon. "I cannot see the government not issuing a dissolution request," said Hotaka Tsukada, an associate professor of the sociology of religion at Joetsu University of Education. But in order to officially dissolve the group, the issue will have to go to court, and such a case would be lengthy as the church is bound to resist, Tsukada said.
If dissolved, the church would lose its official status and tax exemptions, but could continue to operate. The number of Unification Church members in Japan is unclear, but more than 990 Japanese believers took part in a mass wedding ceremony held in South Korea this May, according to data released by the church.
What about the church's fundraising methods?
Ever since it was revealed that Yamagami's mother, a church member, had bankrupted her family by donating upward of $700,000 to the group, Japan's government has been under pressure to provide support to victims of predatory fundraising methods.
In December, parliament passed a "relief act" for such victims, which bans organizations like the Unification Church from soliciting donations through fear, and gives victims the right to withdraw money found to have been donated under coercion.
Seven months later, the new law has yet to be exercised. Church critics say the legislation is too weak to provide support for most victims, as it does not apply to damages incurred before the act's passage. The church was involved in "spiritual sales" amounting to damages of over $850 million between 1987 and 2021, according to Japan's National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales.
"[The law is] better than nothing," Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Tokyo's Sophia University, told Nikkei Asia. "But not addressing everything that has happened until now is cheating."
In comments to Nikkei Asia, the church said that suggesting members' donations are made under duress is "a dangerous claim that deceives the public," adding it holds "serious concerns" about the new law's impact on people's right to freedom of religion.
How has the scandal affected politics under Kishida?
A Kyodo News survey last August showed that around 80% of the roughly 100 Japanese lawmakers found to have links to the church -- such as having received financial support from the group -- were LDP members. This shook public trust in the party, and by December, Kishida's approval rating had fallen to 35% from a high of 66% last May, according to Nikkei polls.
Kishida has since reshuffled his cabinet to remove church-affiliated members and conducted an internal investigation of the LDP. His approval ratings somewhat recovered in the first half of 2023, rising to 52% ahead of the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May.
But experts say Kishida's efforts were insufficient and that the church -- known for its conservative views on gender and the family -- could still be influencing LDP policy decisions.
The church's influence was in the spotlight last month as Japan passed a new anti-LGBTQ discrimination law on June 16. Political commentators say the LDP's controversial last-minute revisions to the law were made to appease the party's most right-wing members, many of whom maintain links with conservative groups like the church.
Meanwhile, the party came out on top in the latest round of local elections in April, winning 45% of prefectural assembly votes, along with its coalition partner, Komeito. Research by the Asahi Shimbun showed that 90% of prefectural assembly member candidates with links to the church, across all parties, were reelected. In one case, Kazuyoshi Itabashi, an 82-year-old LDP member serving in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, and the former head of the prefecture's branch of a church-affiliated group, was reelected for a 14th term.
The first national test of the scandal's impact on the LDP's popularity could come as early as this fall, if Kishida calls a snap general election.
What do we know about the murder trial?
Yamagami was charged with the murder of Abe and violation of firearms laws in January this year, following months of psychiatric and physical examinations to determine whether he was fit to stand trial. If found guilty, he could face lifetime imprisonment or the death penalty.
His story of financial ruin has garnered some public sympathy. By mid-November last year, more than 9,000 people had signed a petition on the website change.org calling for the severity of his sentence to be lessened on the grounds that he was a victim of the church.
A trial date is yet to be set, but Yamagami's first pretrial hearing, scheduled for June 12, was canceled at the last minute due to an "unidentified object" being delivered to the court in Nara. According to public broadcaster NHK, it was a box containing around 13,000 signatures calling for Yamagami's sentence to be light.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Unification-Church-and-politics/Japan-s-Unification-Church-scandal-lingers-a-year-after-Abe-death
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