Photo/Illutration Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda after a Lower House plenary session on Jan. 23 (Koichi Ueda)

Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda described the ties between the Unification Church and slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as “deep” and dating back to “ancient times.”

Hosoda’s comment, made to representatives of various parties in the Diet on Jan. 24, marked the first time an influential lawmaker close to Abe has touched on the extent of the relationship since the former leader was shot and killed in July last year.

But Hosoda did not provide further details about the Abe-church relationship, which was cited by the suspected murderer as the reason for targeting Abe.

Hosoda also—again--did not fully explain his own connections with the church, which is now called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Under pressure from the opposition bloc, Hosoda was questioned about the church in a closed-door, one-hour gathering of representatives of six parties at the Lower House Steering Committee.

Opposition lawmakers who attended the meeting said Hosoda was asked about the time when Abe took over the LDP’s largest faction, Seiwaken, and if he had anything in particular to say to Abe about the church.

Hosoda said: “No. Not really.”

According to the opposition lawmakers, Hosoda continued, “Prime Minister Abe had had deep relations with the church since ancient times, whereas I am new.”

Asked how he knew about the connection between Abe and the church, Hosoda said he did not hear about it from others.

“I have realized it over the course of a long time,” he said.

He also said he became aware of the church’s reputation only after the group made headlines following Abe’s assassination.

The suspected gunman said his mother, a church follower, ruined their family financially by donating huge sums to the religious organization.

“I was stunned to learn (about the church through) various news reports after the incident with Abe,” Hosoda said.

Hosoda has held key Cabinet and party posts. He also headed Seiwaken from 2014 until 2021, when he became the Lower House speaker.

Abe, who left the faction when he took office as prime minister, succeeded Hosoda as the head of the faction.

Of all the LDP factions, the Abe faction is believed to have the closest ties with the church, which has been under government scrutiny over its aggressive donation-collection activities and other problems.

Yoshifumi Miyajima, a former lawmaker with the Abe faction, told The Asahi Shimbun that he received support from the church when he successfully ran in the Upper House election in 2016.

However, Hosoda has denied that he was involved in gathering church followers’ votes for LDP candidates in national elections when he served as faction head.

He also said he has never received specific requests from the church, and that his relationship with the church is not one that he feels guilty about.

Hosoda has admitted to attending eight meetings of groups affiliated with the church and sending congratulatory messages to gatherings of such groups through statements released twice last year.

But despite repeated requests from the media and opposition lawmakers, he has not given a news conference to explain his actions.

“I have already offered clear explanation,” he said of the statements. “It would be inappropriate for me, in my official capacity as Lower House speaker, to speak about what happened in the past at a news conference.”

(This article was compiled from reports by Shino Matsuyama, Ayako Nakada, Haruna Shiromi and Kazutaka Kamizawa.)

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