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2023 January 25 - 31 [POLITICS]

Lower House speaker admits, 'I knew about ex-PM Abe's longstanding ties with Moonies'

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The House of Representatives' Committee on Rules and Administration on January 24 conducted the questioning of Lower House Speaker Hosoda Hiroyuki at his official residence in regard to his relationship with the Moonies (former Unification Church). Hosoda said, "There is nothing wrong with my relationship with that organization," and did not show any regret about his dubious ties with the Moon cult.

At a press conference held after the questioning, Japanese Communist Party Shiokawa Tetsuya, committee member, said, "This is not the end. Hosoda must still explain to the general public about the allegations."

According to Shiokawa, Hosoda did not sincerely explain why he had attended Moonies' events so many times, but he admitted to knowing about the longstanding deep relationship between former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and the organization.

Hosoda between 2014 and 2021 served as the chief of a Liberal Democratic Party faction (the current Abe faction) which is said to have built a strong relationship with the former Unification Church.

In 2019, Hosoda participated in a Moonies-related meeting held with the attendance of Han Hak-ja. Reportedly, Hosoda said in his speech that he will report what he learned from the meeting to Abe. Regarding this news report, Hosoda said, "It was just lip service because I knew that the organization is closely related to Abe. I didn't actually report that to Abe."

With regard to the question if he as the faction chief had allocated Moonies' votes to LDP candidates, Hosoda said, "I do not recall." However, this is very doubtful as several LDP politicians testified that they had consulted with Hododa about the distribution of Moonies' votes.

Hosoda said he had not realized that it was "an organization doing something bad". After Abe was shot to death, he said, "I was stunned to find out various things about the organization from news reports." However, antisocial acts of the Moon cult causing a lot of harm to many people have been widely known in Japan for decades.

Hosoda admitted to knowing the relationship between Abe and the Moonies, saying, "For a long time, I suspected it," but purposely avoided telling from whom he learned of that relationship.

It was former PM Kishi Nobusuke, Abe's grandfather, who welcomed the Moonies-affiliated International Federation for Victory over Communism into Japan and strengthened the ties with the cult. The Abe faction took over the ties the late Kishi had established. The relationship between Abe and the Moon cult should be fully clarified.