Japan Press Weekly

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2022 July 20 - 26 [POLITICS]

JCP Koike: JCP will probe into LDP’s cozy ties with Unification Church

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on July 19 at a press conference in the Diet building expressed his determination to make the utmost effort to uncover the truth behind the cozy ties between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a South Korean religious cult, the Unification Church (renamed the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification).

In the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo during an Upper House election campaign event, the suspect, Yamagami Tetsuya, reportedly told the police that he decided to commit the crime because Abe was closely connected with the Unification Church.

The Unification Church is notorious for its illegal “spiritual sales” activities and "mass weddings" which have long been a contentious social issue in Japan. In its “spiritual sales” activities, the cult promotes fear by saying, “Your ancestors are suffering in the after world” and tricks people into buying exorbitantly costly goods or making donations. The “mass wedding” is the group’s major event in which thousands of couples who are matched by the cult leader are married simultaneously in front of guests and other church members.

Koike noted that the nationwide lawyers’ group working to support victims of “spiritual sales”, the National Lawyers Network against Spiritual Sales, has called on all Dietmembers not to attend and support events held by the Unification Church or under an alias. Nevertheless, he said, it has come to light that many parliamentarians, including LDP members, have taken part in and sent messages to Moonies’ gatherings.

Among them, ex-PM Abe had close ties with the former Unification Church-affiliated NGO, Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and sent messages including congratulatory ones to UPF rallies. For example, Abe sent a video message to a UPF virtual rally on September 12, 2021.

Koike stressed, “It is necessary to summon relevant parties to the Diet in order to expose the whole picture regarding the LDP’s cozy ties with the Unification Church and the cult group’s efforts to buy political influence.” He said that it is also necessary to investigate the relation between the Abe killing and Abe’s connection with the Moonies.

Furthermore, Koike said that as a political party which has long been working on the Unification Church issue inside and outside the Diet, the JCP will make all-out efforts to provide relief to Unification Church victims.