March 26, 2025

The Tokyo District Court on March 25 ordered the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), which has created many victims through coerced “spiritual sales” and high donations, to disband. The Liberal Democratic Party should be held strictly accountable for its cozy ties with the organization.

The court found that 1,559 people had been victimized with the damage amounting to approximately 20.4 billion yen in total, and pointed out that this cannot be overlooked.

Many victims said that they need to remain vigilant because several dummy groups and affiliated companies are still conducting solicitation and spiritual sales by hiding their true identities. In addition, the Moonies-affiliated International Federation for Victory over Communism continues to exist.

The LDP has had a cooperative relationship with the Unification Church since the 1960s. The group used this relationship for publicity purposes and supported the LDP in elections by such means as distributing anti-communist leaflets.

The mother of the defendant in the 2022 shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo was a follower of the Unification Church. She went bankrupt after her family collapsed due to her donations exceeding 100 million yen. The defendant in his letter written shortly before the crime said that Abe is “the most influential Unification Church sympathizer in the real world.”

The LDP maintained close ties with the Unification Church despite knowing of its dubious practices and activities. The party not only turns its back on supporting a full investigation into LDP politicians’ connections with the Moonies, but it in the last general election approved official LDP tickets to the candidates who had received support from the organization.