Article authors:
Reuters
Tim Kelly and Ju-Min・ Park
Tokyo — Fumio Kishida plans to reorganize the cabinet on Wednesday. Assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month.
According to social media posts and news reports, Abe's murderer resented the church, claimed to have bankrupted his mother, and accused him of promoting Abe.
Since then, about 12 other members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have revealed a connection to what critics call the cult.
The church has confirmed that the suspect's mother is a member. It has been accused since Prime Minister Abe's shooting, and members are said to be facing threats of murder.
This is why the church is a problem.
What is the background?
The Unification Church of the World Peace, known as the Unification Church of the World Peace, was founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, an anti-communist and self-declared savior.
Japan was one of the first destinations for international expansion, where lunar conservatism was in line with the Cold War view of the ruling class elite.
According to church publications, he launched the International Federation for Victory and Coalition in the 1960s and established relationships with Japanese politicians.
Why the Liberal Democratic Party?
The Church and the LDP share some views that oppose same-sex marriage and support the revision of Japan's pacifist constitution, studying the legislative relationship with religious groups. Said journalist Eijin Suzuki.
The church has built relationships with politicians to attract believers and gain legitimacy, said Hiroshi Yamaguchi, a lawyer who filed a proceeding against the church. He said politicians now have access to church members to support the campaign.
The LDP did not have a "systematic relationship" with the church, said Toshimitsu Motegi. It would cut off ties with the church, he said on Tuesday.
What about Abe?
The church says Prime Minister Abe is neither a member nor an adviser. According to the website, he made a speech at an event hosted by a church affiliate last September.
Nobuo Kishi told reporters that he was Prime Minister Abe's younger brother, incumbent Minister of Defense, and received support from church members as a volunteer for the campaign.
At a 1974 banquet hosted by the Moon, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (Abe's grandfather) served as Honorary Executive Committee Chairman, the International Federation for Victory and Coalition said on its website.
Fallout?
Kishida's support for the cabinet fell to the lowest 46% since he took office in October, public broadcaster NHK said Monday, many poll respondents said they He said he wanted to explain his relationship with the church.
Fumio Kishida said it was "not relevant" and that new ministers and ruling party officials needed to "thoroughly review" their relationship with the church.
Is it big in Japan?
According to Seoul-based spokesman Anne Hoyul, the church has about 600,000 followers out of 10 million people in the world, and Japan is the fourth largest congregation in the church. .. number.
Recruitment tactics include knocking on doors, targeting relatives of members, and approaching people outside the station, former believers say. According to a spokeswoman, Japan has been the largest source of income for decades, partly because of the practice of exchanging religious goods for donations.
According to a group of lawyers, these so-called fortune telling frauds by the Unification Church and other groups have cost followers nearly $ 1 billion and have resulted in about 35,000 claims since 1987.
The Church has previously promised not to solicit excessive donations after investigations have shown that some members have been convicted of illegal sales tactics.
According to social media posts and news reports, the alleged murder of Prime Minister Abe said the church had persuaded her mother to give up about 100 million yen ($ 736,000). After the
incident, the church said it had returned about $ 400,000 to her mother. It denied forcing her or refusing to comment on her total amount. (Report by Tim Kelly in Tokyo and Jumin Park in Seoul, edited by John Geddy, David Doran and Simon Cameron Moore)
