Photo/Illutration Kenta Izumi, left, the head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, directs a question Oct. 5 to Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, right. (Koichi Ueda)

A ruckus erupted in the Diet on Oct. 5 when the leader of the main opposition party ignored protocol and peppered the speaker of the Lower House chamber with questions about his ties to the Unification Church instead of addressing the assembled lawmakers directly.

Kenta Izumi, who heads the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, took the unusual step of turning around at the podium to address Hiroyuki Hosoda, the speaker, who until Sept. 29 had studiously avoided commenting on a raft of reports about his links with the Unification Church that emerged after the July 8 slaying of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Hosoda ignored the questions from Izumi, leading to shouts from the chamber urging him to respond. While the speaker normally asks for quiet when shouting drowns out what is being said, Hosoda said nothing, making it difficult at one point to hear what the next speaker was asking.

After the session, reporters pressed Hosoda about his ties. Although reports had long linked him with the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, he only issued a short written response on Sept. 29.

While he told reporters he would endeavor to issue another statement this week, he ignored questions about holding a news conference to clarify matters.

Izumi also targeted Daishiro Yamagiwa, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization, who became forthright about meeting with church officials only after he was outed by the media.

Two days earlier, Yamagiwa told reporters that he had met with Hak Ja Han, the widow of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon and now head of the church. He had earlier admitted to attending an event in 2018 where she was present, but failed to mention he met her on that occasion.

“When I saw the photo pointed out to me by media representatives, it matched my recollection of having met her in the past,” he said Oct. 3.

Yamagiwa added that while he now recalled having met her, he was not certain of the exact date because no records of the meeting remained at his office.

Izumi said Yamagiwa’s admissions were clearly intended to muddy the waters and pressed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to fire him.

But Kishida only offered the following awkward response: “If understanding has not been achieved, there will be the need for the individual to present a thorough explanation under his own responsibility.”

Izumi also criticized the way the ruling Liberal Democratic Party went about gathering information about ties between its lawmakers and the Unification Church, calling it insufficient.

Kishida pledged to widen the scope of his edict for members to sever their ties with the religious group to ensure that local assembly members are included.

Yamagiwa himself was also asked on Oct. 5 whether he realized the Unification Church was an anti-social element and, if so, why he continued to attend various events organized by the church.

Yamagiwa lamely responded: “I sincerely apologize if by attending an event I provided a positive endorsement of the organization. I will be careful about my future activities so I hold no ties whatsoever with the group.”

About the only thing agreed to in the Lower House on Oct. 5 was to unanimously pass a declaration criticizing North Korea for launching a ballistic missile over Japan on Oct. 4.

(Ryutaro Abe contributed to this article.)

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