Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Dec. 2 (Takeshi Iwashita)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with the leader of a Unification Church affiliate in Tokyo in 2019 when he was policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, sources said.

According to the sources, Kishida met Masayoshi Kajikuri, chairman of the Japanese branch of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), when Newt Gingrich, a former U.S. House speaker, and others visited the LDP’s headquarters on Oct. 4, 2019.

The UPF was founded by Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, and his wife, Hak Ja Han Moon, the current leader of the religious organization now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

Gingrich has close ties with the UPF, a friendship organization of the church, and has frequently attended UPF gatherings.

Kishida, chairman of the LDP’s Policy Research Council at the time, mainly discussed the situation surrounding the U.S. presidential election with Gingrich during their meeting, which lasted for more than 30 minutes.

Another conversation took place between Kishida and Kajikuri, who introduced himself and handed Kishida his business card, the sources said.

Kajikuri also heads the International Federation for Victory over Communism, a political organization, and the Federation for World Peace, a related organization. Both groups were founded by Sun Myung Moon and his wife.

Kajikuri’s father, Gentaro, was once president of the church’s Japanese branch and also served as head of both the International Federation for Victory over Communism and the Federation for World Peace.

Shady relations between many LDP politicians and the Unification Church were revealed after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in July 2022 apparently over his connections to the organization.

During a Lower House Budget Committee session in October last year, Kishida said, “As far as I know, I myself have been engaged in political activities without having any relationship with the Unification Church.”

After The Asahi Shimbun on Dec. 4 reported about the 2019 meeting, Kishida said he does not remember who was among those accompanying Gingrich at the time.

“I met with Gingrich after receiving a request for a courtesy call,” Kishida told reporters at the prime minister’s office. “There were many people who came with him, but I am not aware of them individually.”

He also said he does not remember whether he exchanged business cards with people who came with Gingrich or what else he did with the visitors.

The Asahi Shimbun had asked Kishida about the meeting several times in writing through his office.

In response to the first inquiry sent on Oct. 23, Kishida’s office said, “We do not know the circumstances leading up to the meeting, but we were aware that it was a meeting with Gingrich.” The response did not refer to Kajikuri.

When asked again whether Kishida was aware that Kajikuri was present and that he was the head of a friendship organization of the church, Kishida’s office said, “We were aware that it was a meeting with Gingrich.”

Again, it gave no explanation about Kajikuri.

The Asahi Shimbun also asked Kajikuri about the facts of the meeting in writing through the UPF’s Japanese branch. He has not responded.

Gingrich said it was a private conversation when The Asahi Shimbun asked him about the meeting by email.

When Kishida reshuffled his Cabinet in August last year, he said he appointed lawmakers who agreed to examine and review their relationships with the Unification Church as his ministers.

He then said, “As far as I know, I personally have nothing to do with the organization in question.”

In response to Kishida’s instructions, the LDP told party Diet members to check and explain their relationships with the church in September last year.

The party said 180 of the 379 lawmakers, excluding the Lower House speaker and the Upper House president, had ties with the church or its affiliates, but Kishida’s name was not included.

(This article was written by Nobuya Sawa, a senior staff writer, and Yosuke Takashima.)

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