The controversial "Moonies" church that fell under scrutiny after the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to be disbanded in Japan. The Tokyo district court made the decision Tuesday after a recommendation from Japan's education and culture ministry, which accused the Unification Church of manipulating followers into donating beyond their means. The suspect in Abe's murder told police his mother had made a $1 million donation that ruined the family financially, per AFP. He also said Abe's grandfather, the former prime minister Nobusuke Kishi, had a role in bringing the church to Japan in the 1960s.
The church—often dubbed the "Moonies" church after late South Korean founder Sun Myung Moon—"is the first religious group subject to a revocation order under Japan's civil code," the Guardian reports. It could still operate under Tuesday's ruling, but would be stripped of its tax-exempt status and required to liquidate its assets, per the BBC. The church said the "absolutely unacceptable" decision was based on "a wrong legal interpretation" and that it was considering filing an immediate appeal, per the Guardian. It previously criticized the education ministry's recommendation as a serious threat to religious freedom.
The ministry put forth thousands of pages of documents based on interviews with more than 170 alleged victims, claiming the church used manipulative tactics to force donations and purchases of expensive art and jewelry said to have a spiritual purpose. Settlements involving more than 1,500 people have totaled more than $133 million, the cultural affairs agency said, per the Guardian. Experts say most of the church's funding comes from Japan, where it reportedly counts 100,000 active members. Investigations tied to Abe's killing have uncovered the church's close ties to conservative lawmakers with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, "leading to the resignation of four ministers," per the BBC. (More Unification Church stories.)
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