A Japanese court ordered the Unification Church to be dissolved after the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Abe spurred government requests.
The church, founded in Korea and called “Moonies” after the late founder Sun Myung Moon, has been accused of being pressured by their followers to make life-causing donations, and has denies child neglect among its members.
The church said it is considering an immediate appeal against the revocation of the Tokyo District Court’s legal status.
The order followed a request from the Japanese Ministry of Education in 2023, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that disbanded an influential South Korea-based sect, which sowed fear among followers and hurt their families.
The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the demand as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers.
The church called the court’s order a pity and unfair order, and in a statement said the court’s decision was based on “a false legal interpretation and absolutely unacceptable.”
An investigation into Abe’s assassination revealed decades of cozy relationship between the church and the Japanese Liberal Democrats. The church acquired legal status as a Japanese religious group in the 1960s, and it acquired legal status in the anti-communist movement supported by former Prime Minister Abe Kishi.
The man accused of killing Abe replied to the church and blamed the financial problems of his family.
Officially referred to as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unity, the church is the first religious organization to be subject to an order to revoke the country under Japanese civil law. Two early cases included criminal charges. AumShinrikyoDoomsday Cult has carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. The Myokakuji Group, whose executives have been found guilty of fraud.
In pursuit of the church’s disbandment, the Ministry of Education has submitted 5,000 documents and evidence to the court based on interviews with more than 170 people.
The church uses manipulative tactics to purchase expensive goods to its followers, donate beyond its means, causing fear, harm and harm from religious organization laws, officials said.
The Department of Culture said the settlement reached both inside and outside the court exceeded 2 billion yen (£103 million) and involved more than 1,500 people.
Founded in Seoul in 1954, the church was established by the moon, a year after the end of the Korean War.
It developed relationships with US President Donald Trump and conservative world leaders, including his predecessors Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.
The church faced accusations in the 1970s and 1980s of using nasty recruitment tactics, brainwashing supporters and handing over the majority of their pay to the month. In Japan, the group faces lawsuits that offer “spiritual goods” in which members allegedly bought expensive art and jewelry, or raised funds for the church to sell real estate.
The church has allowed excessive donations, but it says the issues have diminished since the group strengthened compliance in 2009.
Experts say that Japanese followers are being asked to pay for the sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula in 1910-45, and that most of the church’s global funding comes from Japan.
