October 9, 2023
(Mainichi Japan)
Japan's House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda is set to step down citing health reasons.
Hosoda is one of the Japanese politicians holding the key to unraveling the ties between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Unification Church, formally the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. However, he has provided no public explanation over the issue while apparently using his Diet speakership as a cloak, undermining the authority of the head of one of the three branches of the government. He claims he will soon hold a press conference, during which he should provide direct answers to questions among the public.
The LDP's connections with the church date back to the time of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, the grandfather of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and have expanded primarily among lawmakers belonging to Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai, or the current Abe faction. Abe in particular is said to have had deep ties with the religious group, and Hosoda, who headed the Abe faction, is considered well-informed about circumstances surrounding the matter in addition to his own involvement.
In a video showing an international conference held by a group linked to the Unification Church in 2019, Hosoda, alongside other participants, is seen hailing church leader Hak Ja Han with a round of applause, and then addressing the audience, saying, "I'd like to immediately report to Prime Minister Abe about what this conference is about."
There are suspicions that Abe coordinated organized support from the church for votes in the 2016 House of Councillors election and other polls to get LDP candidates elected.
Both Abe and Hosoda were nevertheless excluded from the subjects of an LDP survey last fall targeting party Diet members regarding their contacts with the church. Abe had been assassinated that summer and Hosoda had left the LDP faction when he assumed the Diet speakership.
In response to mounting criticism leveled against him, Hosoda released brief statements explaining the matter in bits and pieces, but their content was a mere formality and utterly insufficient.
When Hosoda held informal talks with representatives of ruling and opposition parties for about an hour at his official residence in January, he reportedly spoke of relations with the church, saying, "Abe had deep connections from a long time ago. My links are more recent." Hosoda has adamantly refused to give any official account over the issue, stating, "It is not appropriate for the lower house speaker to answer questions at a news conference."
At 79 years old, Hosoda is apparently eager to stay in office as a lawmaker by running in the next lower house election, even as he is resigning as the chamber's speaker. He must provide testimony over not just his links with the church but also Abe's involvement with the group. As he is stepping down as Diet speaker, the LDP will have no reason to exempt Hosoda from the coverage of its surveys.
There have also been reports about Hosoda's alleged sexual harassment against female reporters. Yet he has refused to explain the scandals, claiming that the reports are "groundless."
It is intolerable for Hosoda to keep turning his back on the public and taking an irresponsible attitude any further.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20231009/p2a/00m/0op/015000c
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