Author: Yamaguchi Banri
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s ruling party said on Sept. 8 that an internal survey found nearly half of the country’s lawmakers had ties to the Unification Church, in a growing controversy following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
In July, Abe was shot and killed during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, reportedly told police he killed Abe because of his apparent ties to the Unification Church. A letter and social media posts attributed to him say his mother’s large donation to the church bankrupted his family and ruined his life.
That has led to the revelation of widespread ties between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the South Korean church, which experts say has urged Japanese followers to make large donations to atone for their ancestral sins, including Japan’s past colonization of the Korean peninsula.
Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in the investigation that 179 of 379 party lawmakers reported ties to churches and related organizations. Relationships range from attending church events to receiving donations and receiving election support.
Motegi, however, denies any link between the conservative ruling party as an organization and the church.
“I take the party’s findings seriously,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. “In the future, the party will cut ties with organisations with known social issues and make it a party policy, so we won’t raise suspicions from the public.”
The Unification Church has been accused of inappropriate recruitment and business tactics and forcing believers to make large donations, which the church denies.
Ninety-six LDP MPs reported attending events organised by churches or their affiliates, while 20 said they had given speeches. Nearly 50 people said they paid at the event, while 29 accepted donations. Abe’s younger brother, former Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi and former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagida and other 17 people accepted church members as campaign volunteers.
Abe, one of Japan’s most influential politicians and a conservative nationalist, recorded a video message last year for the church-affiliated group World Peace Alliance, in which he praised the coalition’s co-founders, who are also united Head Hak Ja Han Moon Church, for her efforts in promoting traditional family values.
Opposition lawmakers criticized the investigation for excluding Abe because of his death. Critics say the survey has not yet included LDP lawmakers in local councils, where church followers also actively influence policy.
The Unification Church was established in Korea in 1954 and came to Japan ten years later. It has forged close ties with LDP MPs over shared interests in conservative causes, including opposition to communism. Abe’s grandfather, former prime minister Nobuyuki Kishi, helped found the political unit of the church in Tokyo in 1968.
Although Kishida underwent a cabinet reshuffle in August in which he purged seven ministers with ties to the church, including Kishida, he eventually won more candidates in his new cabinet.
Support for the Kishida government has plummeted in recent media surveys, apparently because of party members’ ties to the church and plans for a rare state funeral for Abe.
Abe’s family funeral was held at a Tokyo temple in July, but Kishida hopes to hold a state funeral on Sept. 27 at the Budokan’s Budokan with about 6,000 invited guests. The only state funeral for a former prime minister in recent decades was that of Shigeru Yoshida in 1967. Its decisions have been criticized as undemocratic and an inappropriate use of taxpayer money.
Critics say Kishida’s decision to hold Abe’s state funeral was an attempt to please lawmakers in the ruling party belonging to Abe’s former faction, to maintain party unity and support Kishida’s own grip on power. He has said Abe’s status as the longest-reigning post-World War II leader and his diplomatic and economic achievements deserve a state funeral.
The Kishida government initially set the funeral cost at 250 million yen ($1.7 million), but recently said it would need at least 1.4 billion yen ($9.7 million) for the safety, transportation and hospitality of foreign dignitaries and other guests. Some say the cost could increase further.
