Photo/Illutration The building in Tokyo housing the headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Japan’s education ministry said Oct. 12 it will forge ahead with its plans to seek a court order to disband a religious group formerly known as the Unification Church but now called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Ministry officials stated their position at a meeting of the Religious Corporations Council. The ministry is expected to submit a disbandment request to the Tokyo District Court as early as Oct. 13.

Education minister Masahito Moriyama held a news conference after the Religious Corporations Council meeting and explained the decision to seek disbandment.

He said ministry officials held interviews with around 170 people who were traumatized by large donations to the Unification Church that they said had affected their lives.

“For a long period from the 1980s, the church restricted many members from making sound decisions based on their own free will and had them make large donations or expensive purchases,” he said.

He also revealed details of a study by the Cultural Affairs Agency regarding lawsuits seeking damages from the Unification Church. There were a total of 32 cases, involving 169 plaintiffs who were found to have suffered total damages to the tune of about 2.2 billion yen ($14.7 million).

Another 1,550 people reached court-mediated settlements totaling around 20.4 billion yen, or about 13.1 million yen on average.

Moriyama added that the psychological toll on church members and their families from the social stigma associated with the church, and the pressure applied, was enormous.

Because the acts were inappropriate under the Civil Law, the ministry decided the church should be disbanded.

On Oct. 12, the church issued a comment on its website in which it said “it is very regrettable” that the government is seeking a disbandment order. It added that it would make its legal arguments in court against any disbandment.

Only two other religious corporations have ever been disbanded, the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult that was responsible for deadly sarin attacks on the Tokyo subway network in 1995 and the Myokakuji temple group, whose leader and executives were accused of defrauding followers through exorbitant fees paid for memorial services to honor the deceased.

In those two cases, top church officials were charged with crimes.

But that has not been the case with the Unification Church.

The Unification Church came under the spotlight following the fatal shooting in July 2022 of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The assailant told police that his family was ruined because of huge donations made by his mother to the church, which had been at the center of social rumblings for years about unsavory business practices. The suspect also blamed Abe for his close links with the church.

The education ministry subsequently mounted the first-ever investigation of a religious corporation, sending a raft of questions to the Unification Church regarding its activities on seven occasions.

The ministry has gone to court in another case seeking fines against the church for its failure to adequately respond to its queries.

To help build its case, the ministry also questioned former church members and the children of church members about the huge donations to the Unification Church.

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