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2022 October 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Economic revitalization minister resigns due to his deep ties with Moonies

Economic Revitalization Minister Yamagiwa Taishiro on October 24 resigned from the Cabinet after coming under severe public criticism over a spate of allegations concerning his deep-rooted collusion with the antisocial cult Family Federation for World Peace and Unification known as the Moonies (former Unification Church). Each time a new connection with the Moonies-related events or organizations came to the surface, he defiantly said, "I don't have any memory of it," in the Diet.

Until right before Yamagiwa's resignation, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio was defending Yamagiwa and expressed his intent to keep Yamagiwa in office.

Asked by the press to comment on Yamagiwa's resignation, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira said, "It is a matter of course for him to resign and he should speak honestly about his relationship with the Moonies."
　
At the same time, Koike added, "PM Kishida should be held responsible for appointing this Moonies-tainted person to a Cabinet minister. Kishida should investigate and make public Moonies-connections with all Cabinet members."

Past related articles:
> Kishida administration unable to form Cabinet of lawmakers without Moonies links [August 13, 2022]
> JCP Koike: Reshuffled Kishida Cabinet stays same inside [August 11, 2022]