A Japanese court yesterday ordered that a religious sect be stripped of official recognition, the government said, in the wake of the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
A government spokesman said that the Tokyo District Court “issued the dissolution order” for the Japanese chapter of the Unification Church, founded in South Korea and nicknamed the “Moonies” after its late founder, Sun Myung Moon.
The church is accused of pressuring followers into making life-ruining donations and blamed for child neglect among its members, although it has denied any wrongdoing.
Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, was shot dead on the campaign trail in 2022, allegedly by a man who resented the Unification Church.
The alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, was reportedly angry that his mother had donated about ￥100 million (US$660,000 at the current exchange rate) to the church.
Investigations after Abe’s murder revealed close ties between the sect and many conservative ruling-party lawmakers, leading to the resignation of four ministers.
That prompted the Japanese government in 2023 to seek permission from the courts to have the religious group legally disbanded.
Yesterday’s court order, once enacted, would remove the church’s tax-exempt status, while branding the organization a harmful entity, experts said.
However, the church would still be able to continue religious practices, lawyer Katsuomi Abe said before yesterday’s court ruling.
“Its reputation will decline and the number of followers will decrease,” said Katsuomi Abe, who represents former believers seeking compensation after making huge donations.
“I don’t think any other organization has caused such damage” to Japanese society, he said.
The amount donated by Japanese members over the decades has been estimated by some at hundreds of millions of US dollars or more.
Since 2023, nearly 200 people have demanded compensation of ￥5.7 billion in total.
The Unification Church — officially the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification — was founded in 1954.
It rose to global prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, becoming famous for mass weddings often held in stadiums.
Japan has long been a financial hub, with the church telling members they must atone for the wartime occupation of Korea by selling expensive items to obtain forgiveness from their sins.
Yamagami, now in pretrial detention, could face the death penalty if convicted over Shinzo Abe’s killing.
Their uncle has described receiving telephone calls for help from Yamagami when his mother left her children alone and without any food to attend the church.
Since Shinzo Abe’s murder, the church has pledged to prevent “excessive” member donations.
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