Opposition launches probe into lawmakers’ links to Unification Church

6 comments

1. In case anyone’s out of the loop, here are a bunch of resources I gathered about the LDP and Unification Church ([Wikipedia Page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church)):

   * This is a good Twitter thread (English) that shows many connections between LDP politicians and the Unification Church: https://twitter.com/mrjeffu/status/1550337763941445633

   * [Previous post](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/w09rqz/at_least_34_highranking_members_in_the_abe/) about how at least 34 high-ranking members in Abe’s administration were found to have ties with the Unification Church. The article explains how journalist Suzuki Eito put together a list of members of the Japanese Diet with confirmed ties to the cult, and 98 of 112 members belong to the LDP (Abe’s party).

   * English Article and photo: Abe’s grandfather Kishi invited the cult into Japan in the first place and let them [put together an HQ](https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220715/p2g/00m/0na/053000c) on [his land](https://twitter.com/takamint5555/status/1548479654688071680).

   * The cult trains and dispatches secretaries to work for the LDP for free (and likely spy on them too), the total number of such secretaries likely surpassing 100. Here’s a [Japanese video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0nZ51_uTDc&t=3155s) that goes into this (Abema News interview with journalist Arita Yoshifu who has followed the cult’s activities for the last 40 years).

   * AP News Article: [EXPLAINER: The Unification Church’s ties to Japan’s politics](https://apnews.com/article/shinzo-abe-japan-crime-tokyo-south-korea-4bac3b7b504b857bc4d2a8ff503b4b37)

   * Clip: Arita Yoshifu on the Morning Show (TV Asahi / July 18) regarding political pressure to not investigate the Unification Church after the Aum cult incident (the hosts become unable to respond and quickly go to the commercials, so this video also demonstrates political pressure on the media): https://twitter.com/TOxMOxNIx67/status/1548833436991127555

   * Twitter post: Arita Yoshifu explains: “One TV station told me, ‘Mr. Arita, please don’t use the term ‘political power’. Several other stations informed me that they did not want me to say ‘Sekai Nippo’ or ‘the name of a particular politician’. ‘Mr. Arita, TV today isn’t how it used to be.'”: https://twitter.com/arita_office/status/1549355684688691201

   * Clip: Another example of government influence on the media: The Unification Church was brought up by a guest on the NHK’s recent Sunday debate program. The hosts become visibly uncomfortable and quickly shift subjects, pretending the topic wasn’t brought up: https://twitter.com/snc20165/status/1548521507734687747

   * Video: Arita Yoshifu on Arc Times discussing how there was political pressure on the police to stop investigating the Unification Church, how the media isn’t able to freely cover the fact that there was political pressure, how the church spends a tremendous amount of money every month lobbying politicians in the Diet, and so on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2g3vNOQJs4

   * Video: Arita Yoshifu on MBS News talking about the Unification Church’s name change in Japan and how it has various front organizations to trick people into attending events and so on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWfwOcLl5sQ

   * Video: Journalist Suzuki Eito on Abema News explains the methodology by which the Unification Church targets college students (inviting them to events organized by one of their front organizations which have similar names to real organizations and pretend to be about issues such as SDGs): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkMJEFr0lIs

   * Video: Interview with Arita Yoshifu where they discuss the Unification Church (Democracy Times): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSkjNmGpaSI

   * Clip: Lawyer Kito Masaki on the Morning Show (TV Asahi) describing how Sun Myung Moon was originally unable to enter Japan in the 90s due to being charged guilty of tax evasion in the United States, but was able to obtain entry permission after pressure from the LDP (recommendation from all factions of the party): https://twitter.com/mugichoko1616/status/1548903404704960512

   * Clip: Miyane-ya: A current Unification Church member explains, maintaining anonymity, how they are instructed to vote for a specific party (LDP) and specific LDP candidate in the election (Inoue Yoshiyuki in this case), and that if they don’t vote and their candidate loses, Japan will fall into ruin: https://twitter.com/daiwa0830/status/1550474102993199105

   * Clip: Miyane-ya: Nippon Ishin no Kai party politician Adachi Yasushi who previously gave a speech for the Unification Church is now feigning ignorance about the church’s activities (The party was found to have [5 politicians with ties](https://www.nikkan-gendai.com/articles/view/life/308409) to the Unification Church): https://twitter.com/KAKIKUKEkooko/status/1550168024652877825

   * Clip: A university student demonstration for revising Japan’s constitution was actually organized by the Unification Church (the name of its child organization, 勝共連合UNITE, is visible on the main banner): https://twitter.com/hiroshimilano/status/1549389465722015749

   * Clip: Arita Yoshifu explains how the Unification Church is able to send over 1.5 billion yen from Japan to Korea every month due to there being no legal regulations regarding this for religious organizations: https://twitter.com/arita_office/status/1547557310561947650

   * Clip: Lawyer Kito Masaki on Gogosuma (TBS) explaining how the cult is able to make a tremendous amount of money from spiritual goods sales (selling urns, stamps, holy books to followers for absurd prices) in Japan, but it’s not able to do so in other regions it’s based in such as America or Europe. The reason for this is a lack of regulations in Japanese law which has allowed the cult to get away with these activities for decades: https://twitter.com/mugichoko1616/status/1549370629119303680

   * Article: Despite the Church being a global organization based in Korea, Japan is thought to provide 70% or 80% of the church’s wealth: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/12/unification-church-japan-shinzo-abe/

   * Clip: Giant complex being built by the Unification Church in Korea (probably funded by spiritual goods sales in Japan): https://twitter.com/sichosya/status/1550617156274257920

   * Article about an official letter from PM Kishi (Abe’s grandfather) to President Ronald Reagan requesting the release of Sun Myung Moon who was arrested in America for tax evasion: https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2022/07201200/?all=1

   * Old Clip: Former LDP PM Fukuda Takeo (Minister of Finance at the time) praising Sun Myung Moon as a great mentor: https://twitter.com/akasakaromantei/status/1548566750153043973

   * Video: [TBS News Special Report](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoTRyhI7uak)

   * Other Reference: [List of criminal cases in recent years involving the Unification Church](https://twitter.com/hotaka_tsukada/status/1546296292481335296)

   * Clip: [Morning Show (TV Asahi)](https://twitter.com/pmdtpwtpwdgtdtm/status/1546675032050388993): Lawyer Kito Masaki explains the cult’s practices mind controlling and extracting money from its followers

   * Clip: [Morning Show (TV Asahi)](https://twitter.com/pmdtpwtpwdgtdtm/status/1546655399763329024): Lawyer Kito Masaki explains how the cult has a term “hg” (hayaku genkin / give us money now), and how they use it to compel followers to sell their property, give all their money, and then when there’s nothing left, to ultimately take out loans (eventually forcing them into bankruptcy) in order to be able to keep contributing money to the cult.

   * Video: [Testimony from a former cult member (MBS News)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc_r8zsj9F8)

   * Video: [Press Conference of Lawyers against the Unification Church](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRFiiTZ5xao)
   * An [English article](https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220715/p2a/00m/0na/016000c) that summarizes the testimony of one of the cult survivors from the above lawyer press conference.
   * Previous post: [Lawyers in Japan say Unification Church lying about not extorting donations from followers](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vxzbo4/lawyers_in_japan_say_unification_church_lying/)

   * Previous posts about Yamagami (Abe’s shooter):
   * [Mother of suspect in Abe assassination was a member of Unification Church, church say.](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vwonbc/mother_of_suspect_in_abe_assassination_was_a/)
   * [Ex-PM Abe shooter’s mother donated 100 mil. yen to Unification Church](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vzfl7h/expm_abe_shooters_mother_donated_100_mil_yen_to/)
   * [Last letter from Yamagami, who assassinated Abe, to a journalist](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/w1yq5e/last_letter_from_yamagami_who_assassinated_abe_to/)

   * Here are a couple English videos showing the cult’s mass weddings. In the second one, someone explains how people donate money to save their ancestors from going to hell:

   * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCfvGOeBJtw
   * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebrbLTlalV0

   * Unification Church global activities:
   * [New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/11/05/magazine/sushi-us.html) about the UC’s deep connections to the sushi industry in the United States
   * The UC also owns [The Washington Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times) newspaper (not to be confused with the Washington Post or the New York Times). The font is similar.
   * The UC also owns [UPI (United Press International)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Press_International). Its parent company is [News World Communications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_World_Communications) which is owned by the UC.

   **[PART 2 HERE](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/w53x6i/opposition_launches_probe_into_lawmakers_links_to/ihojyu9/)**

2. Anything to change the political and economic future

3. I was talking to my Mom yesterday. She said it was like the JFK assassination. Everyone thinks there is so much more going on, but no one thinks the real truths are ever going to come out.

4. Although the shooter did something that cannot be forgiven, you have to admit that he 100% achieved his goal plus more.

   It seems to me like me might be a little more desperate than crazy.

5. The Unification Church = The “Moonies”, right?
   Also, they’re the ones who publish “The Epoch Times,” right? Please set me straight if necessary.

6. A problem in Japan is that people are conditioned to be “positive”. So if you try to talk with Japanese about issues like this (or any other deep rooted problem), they’ll get annoyed and say, “Why do you have to be so negative?” or “Why are you worried about this?” Tackling systemic corruption in Japan is extremely hard when no one wants to here about it.