Unification Church

==== Assassination of Shinzo Abe ====
On 8 July 2022 Japan's longest-serving prime minister, [[Shinzo Abe]], was [[Assassination of Shinzo Abe|assassinated]] by former [[Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force|Maritime Self-Defense Force]] seaman [[Tetsuya Yamagami]], whose mother is a member of the Japanese Unification Church. Yamagami blamed the church for ruining his family by making his mother donate most of the family wealth to the church, and saw Abe as "deeply connected" to the church. The assassination prompted sympathy for Abe, but also increased scrutiny of the Unification Church and the LDP, and eventually led to a backlash against them. After the assassination it was found that almost half of the 379 [[National Diet]] (parliament) members of Abe's [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] "admitted to some kind of contact with the Unification Church". The church "maintained a volunteer army" of members to work on political campaigns for Abe and other politicians in his party. Journalist [[Robert F. Worth]] writes that the Moonies he talked to "described a litany of insults and abuses" they had been subject to in the year since the assassination.<ref name="Worth-Moonies-Atlantic" /><ref name=":4">{{cite web |date=9 July 2022 |script-title=ja:父は急死、母は宗教団体へ多額の金 安倍氏銃撃容疑者の生い立ち：朝日新聞デジタル |trans-title=Father died suddenly, mother went to a religious group A large amount of money Mr. Abe's background of the shooting suspect |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ796KGPQ79PTIL02M.html?iref=ogimage_rek |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709213311/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ796KGPQ79PTIL02M.html?iref=ogimage_rek |archive-date=9 July 2022 |access-date=9 July 2022 |website=[[The Asahi Shimbun]] |language=ja}}</ref> <ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Tim |last2=Park |first2=Ju-min |date=2022-08-16 |title=Explainer: Why the Unification Church has become a headache for Japan's Kishida |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/why-unification-church-has-become-headache-japans-kishida-2022-08-09/ |access-date=2023-05-02 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>

The Unification Church is said to have historically had a close relationship with the conservative [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]], founded by [[Nobusuke Kishi]] and later led by his grandson, [[Shinzo Abe]], then prime minister of Japan.<ref name="Kodansha">{{cite news |title=【独自】安倍元首相を撃った山上徹也が供述した、宗教団体「統一教会」の名前（現代ビジネス編集部|url=https://gendai.ismedia.jp/articles/-/97322 |access-date=9 July 2022 |work=Gendai Bijinesu |date=9 July 2022 |publisher=[[Kodansha]]|language=ja}}</ref><ref name="wp 0710 assassin mother">{{Citation|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/09/shinzo-abe-assassination-election-blinken/?location=alert|title=Assassin may have killed Abe as revenge against religious group that bankrupted his mother|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=9 July 2022|access-date=11 July 2022|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Yahoo News">{{cite news|title=【独自】安倍元総理射殺事件 「山上容疑者」父の自殺の背景にあった"もうひとつの団体"の名|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5ae858f511ba293fb8741595689804cc83c34d3a|access-date=14 July 2022|publisher=Yahoo News|language=ja|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714062144/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5ae858f511ba293fb8741595689804cc83c34d3a|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="news.yahoo.co.jp">{{cite news|title=【《安倍元首相銃殺》「母親が宗教に傾倒し、大病を患う兄が自殺」山上徹也容疑者が自殺未遂に至った"不遇な家庭環境"と事件直前の"悪質レビュートラブル"|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/83223f705c133b48a0e662b0ebc37dc85154ce52|access-date=14 July 2022|publisher=Yahoo News|language=ja|archive-date=13 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713033453/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/83223f705c133b48a0e662b0ebc37dc85154ce52|url-status=dead}}</ref>  In 2019, the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales released a document protesting congratulatory messages sent by Abe to events organized by the Unification Church and its affiliates because they feared such messages enhanced the church's authority and encouraged what they considered its "[[Anti-social behaviour|anti-social activities]]".<ref name="mainichi120722" /><ref>{{cite web |date=11 September 2019 |script-title=ja:衆議院議員 安倍晋三 先生へ |url=https://www.stopreikan.com/kogi_moshiire/shiryo_20210917.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710080249/https://www.stopreikan.com/kogi_moshiire/shiryo_20210917.htm |archive-date=10 July 2022 |publisher=National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales |language=ja}}</ref>

She joined the Unification Church in 1998, and sold the land she inherited from her father along with the house where she lived with her 3 children. In June 1999, she donated about 100 million yen (US$720,000) to the Unification Church, half of which was said to have been returned according to Reuters,<ref name=":6" /> leading to her family's bankruptcy in 2002 and significantly affecting their family, according to Yamagami.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20220713-OYT1T50136/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713085752/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20220713-OYT1T50136/|script-title=ja:関係者「母親は旧統一教会に献金1億円」、土地・自宅売却で破産|language=ja|publisher=[[Yomiuri shimbun]]|date=13 July 2022|archive-date=13 July 2022|access-date=13 July 2022}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=March 2023}} Financially troubled, Yamagami was unable to enter university despite graduating from a prestigious high school. His brother and his father would later commit suicide. Yamagami stated that his original plan was to assassinate [[Hak Ja Han]], the widow of [[Sun Myung Moon]] and the current leader of the Unification Church. However, he gave up his plan because he could not get close to her.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000261372.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712153122/https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000261372.html|script-title=ja:独自「火炎放射器を持って」供述で判明した旧統一教会襲撃計画 安倍元総理を狙った理由|language=ja|publisher=TV asahi|date=12 July 2022|archive-date=12 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Suspected Abe assassin cited religious group grudge as reason |url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14665352 |access-date= 2022-07-09 |website=[[The Asahi Shimbun]] |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220709095218/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14665352 |url-status=live }}</ref> He believes Abe and his grandfather, [[Nobusuke Kishi]], spread the Unification Church in Japan and decided to kill Abe after discovering online that Abe had sent video messages to UC-related organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000261223.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711164704/https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_society/articles/000261223.html|script-title=ja:動機は？旧統一教会「家庭の破綻は把握」山上容疑者「安倍総理のビデオレター見た」|language=ja|publisher=TV asahi|date=11 July 2022|archive-date=11 July 2022}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=March 2023}}

[[Chung Hwan Kwak]], the Honorary President of the [[Global Peace Foundation]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3185908/unification-churchs-founder-was-close-shinzo-abes-grandfather | title=Unification Church's founder 'was close' to Shinzo Abe's grandfather | date=20 July 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.globalpeace.org/people/dr-chung-hwan-kwak | title=Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak &#124; Global Peace Foundation }}</ref> who had long held a position second to Sun Myung Moon in the Unification Church and left it in 2009 after internal strife, apologized on behalf of the Unification Church. He said that the church was responsible for the assassination of Abe.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Unification Church founder was close to former PM Abe's grandfather: ex-chairman |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220719/p2g/00m/0na/047000c}}</ref> According to Kwak, a wave of bankruptcies, divorces and suicides among Japanese believers had prompted him to attempt to normalize Japan's status as an "economic force" in 2001, but his attempt was thwarted by strong opposition from other church leaders. The Unification Church later denied Kwak's claim, saying that it was Kwak who called for the transfer of Japanese money to the church headquarters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/religious/1051627.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720031634/https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/religious/1051627.html|script-title=ko:"아베 사망, 통일교 무리한 헌금 탓" 전 통일교 2인자 곽정환 주장|language=ko|publisher=[[The Hankyoreh]]|date=20 July 2022|archive-date=2022-07-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1db8e69cd3b657a0a611f65452bcb3ecc836477d|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720032750/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1db8e69cd3b657a0a611f65452bcb3ecc836477d|script-title=ja:旧統一教会"元No.2"が謝罪「安倍元総理の死に責任」...献金も痛烈批判「教団は堕落」|language=ja|publisher=[[TV Asahi]]|date=20 July 2022|archive-date=20 July 2022}}</ref> {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The [[National Public Safety Commission (Japan)|National Public Safety Commission]] chair [[Satoshi Ninoyu]] instructed police authorities to set up a panel to investigate the security lapses which may have been involved in Abe's death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Govt. to set up panel to investigate security lapses in Abe shooting {{!}} NHK WORLD-JAPAN News |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220712_15/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=NHK WORLD |language=en}}</ref> The Commission chair was among several elected officials who promoted a Unification Church event in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=安倍元首相銃撃事件で注目の旧統一教会「主導イベント」国家公安委員長が呼びかけ人だった！（SmartFLASH） |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/b3f95dd0e9eafbe01f742863a7c23d18cb0f1fe9 |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=Yahoo!ニュース |language=ja}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=March 2023}} Japan's main opposition party, the [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan]], and two other opposition parties, the [[Democratic Party for the People]] and the [[Japanese Communist Party]], have said that they plan to launch their own investigations into the Unification Church's political influence and connections in Japanese politics.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/25/national/japan-politics-unification-church-links/ |title=Unification Church ties to Japan's lawmakers emerge as major political issue |publisher=[[The Japan Times]] |access-date=2022-07-30}}</ref> On August 31, 2022, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which Abe was a member, announced that it would no longer have any relationships with the Unification Church and its related organizations. The Liberal Democratic Party has announced that it would expel its members if they did not break any ongoing relationships with the Unification Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bfb8dca4cd50160f6c93177b57e9808aa850d110|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831073533/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bfb8dca4cd50160f6c93177b57e9808aa850d110|script-title=ja:旧統一教会と関係絶てない議員「同じ党で活動できない」自民党・茂木幹事長|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo news Japan|date=31 August 2022|archive-date=31 August 2022}}</ref> [[Fumio Kishida]], Japan's prime minister and president of the LDP, stated in October 2022 that the Japanese government would start an investigation into the extent of Abe's relationship with the Unification Church.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-10-17 |title=Unification Church: Japan to investigate religious group after Abe killing |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63282588 |access-date=2023-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Tim |last2=Kaneko |first2=Kaori |date=2022-11-22 |title=Japan probes Unification Church after backlash over ruling party ties |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-govt-begin-investigation-unification-church-2022-11-22/ |access-date=2023-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-22 |title=Japan begins inquiry into Unification church in wake of Shinzo Abe killing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/22/japan-begins-inquiry-into-unification-church-in-wake-of-shinzo-abe-killing |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>