Photo/Illutration A building housing the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, commonly known as the Unification Church (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The education ministry on Sept. 6 decided to ask the Tokyo District Court to fine the Unification Church over its failure to answer questions about its activities after hearing opinions from members of the Religious Corporations Council earlier in the day.

The court will hold closed-door discussions to decide whether to impose a fine, a type of administrative penalty, on the organization, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

The education ministry exercised its right to question a religious corporation based on the Religious Corporations Law and sought information from the church, which is facing criticism over huge donations it has demanded from followers with no thought to the family difficulties the practice caused. 

It sent questionnaires on seven occasions between November and July and asked more than 600 questions about such issues as donations, the church's organizational operation and properties it holds. 

But the church failed to respond to many questions, ministry officials said.

Under the Religious Corporations Law, the representative director of a religious corporation faces a fine of no more than 100,000 yen ($688) if the organization fails to properly respond to an investigation. 

The education ministry’s notice to levy a fine on the Unification Church will be the first over the right to question a religious corporation based on the law.

The government separately plans to seek an order from the Tokyo District Court to dissolve the Unification Church as early as mid-October.

An application for a dissolution order can be made even while discussions on the ministry’s notice requesting a fine are continuing.

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