Tag - unification-church

 
 

UNIFICATION CHURCH

Tatsuo Hashida (second from right), head of a group representing victims who suffered from having given large donations to the Unification Church in Kochi Prefecture, speaks during a news conference in Kochi on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2025
Unification Church victims voice joy over stripping of group's legal status
The Tokyo District Court stripped the controversial group of its religious corporation status on Tuesday.
Nobuya Fukumoto (far left), a lawyer for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, is surrounded by the media at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday after it ordered the group to be stripped of its religious corporation status.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2025
Tokyo court strips Unification Church of religious corporation status
The order against the group, heavily criticized for its coercive tactics in soliciting donations, removes its tax-exempt status.
The Tokyo District Court is expected to present its decision regarding the dissolution the Unification Church on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 23, 2025
Tokyo court may decide on Unification Church dissolution on Tuesday
The fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shed light on the Unification Church's controversial practices.
The logo of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known as the Unification Church, is seen at the entrance of its Japan branch headquarters in Tokyo in October 2023.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 15, 2025
Unification Church faces dissolution in Japan
The dissolution would remove the church's tax-exempt status while branding the organization a harmful entity.
Koichi Hagiuda, former economy minister, shakes hands with his supporters in Hachioji, Tokyo, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 18, 2024
In western Tokyo, national scandals rub up against local politics
In the Tokyo No. 24 district, the LDP is grappling with a backlash, but the opposition is struggling to capitalize on the public’s lingering dissatisfaction.
Justice Minister Hideki Makihara speaks during a joint interview with media outlets at his office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 11, 2024
Justice minister says he has severed all ties with Unification Church
Hideki Makihara has promised to follow the Liberal Democratic Party’s commitment on ceasing ties with the group moving forward.
Hideki Makihara enters the Prime Minister's Office on Oct. 3 before being appointed as justice minister.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
Japan's new justice minister admits ties with Unification Church
Such ties between Makihara and the controversial religious group had not been confirmed in a survey by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 2022.
The Liberal Democratic Party's suspected ties with the Unification Church have been little discussed in the ongoing leadership race campaign.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024
Unification Church issue continues to haunt LDP amid leadership race
The Asahi Shimbun daily has published a photo purporting to show a meeting between then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a senior official of the religious group in 2013.
A plaintiff in a damages lawsuit regarding the Unification Church's alleged illegal solicitation of donations holds a news conference in Tokyo following a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 12, 2024
Ruling in favor of Unification Church overturned by Japan's top court
A case related to the group’s controversial donation collection activities has been sent back to the high court.
The date for Tetsuya Yamagami's first hearing of a trial for his murder case against former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has not yet been set.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2024
Two years on: Trial date for Abe's accused shooter still not set
Pretrial proceedings are still underway at Nara District Court.
A sign for Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church, at its Tokyo headquarters
JAPAN / Society
Jul 7, 2024
Unification Church in tough position two years after Abe shooting
As Monday marks the second anniversary of the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Unification Church finds itself in a difficult position.
Members of a group of former second-generation Jenovah's Witnesses speak during a news conference in Tokyo in November.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024
Japan finds 47 cases of abuse of 'second-generation followers'
Victims were temporarily taken into protective custody in 19 of the total cases.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2024
Unification Church fined for not answering government questions
The Tokyo District Court ordered the group to pay a fine of ¥100,000 for its refusal to answer some questions put to it by the culture ministry.
Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2024
Japan panel OKs putting Unification Church under increased scrutiny
Once an organization is designated, it will be obliged to notify authorities of any disposal of its real estate assets at least one month in advance.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024
Japan opposition fails with censure motion against education minister
The CDP's move against a Unification Church-linked minister came as the party also called for questioning over a slush funds scandal.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2024
Hayashi denies agreeing to Unification Church policies
The chief cabinet secretary said he had not agreed to the policies of the church during a meeting with people linked to the religious group in 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 7, 2024
Education minister under fire for unreported ties to Unification Church
Masahito Moriyama said he could not remember 2021 meeting with the group or the agreement he signed with it for electoral support.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
Kishida insists corporate donations have no effect on LDP policy
The responses came during Lower House budget committee questions from Akira Nagatsuma, policy chief of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2024
Japan to use ex-believers' help for Unification Church victim aid
Some will participate as instructors in the training of consultation staff, to help them understand the feelings of victims.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visit the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima on May 21 during the Group of Seven summit. Zelenskyy’s visit to one of the two cities attacked with a nuclear weapon came amid Russia’s veiled threats to use its nuclear arsenal in its war against Ukraine.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2023
Images of 2023: Japan
Outside of the successful G7 summit, the year was not kind to PM Fumio Kishida's unpopular administration. A kickback scandal provided one final headache.

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