Photo/Illutration Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Unification Church in Japan, speaks at a news conference on Dec. 9. (Yoshihiro Sakai)

The leader of the Unification Church in Japan announced his resignation after expressing an “apology imbued with remorse” to people who say they have been harmed by the organization.

“Our activities have caused deep distress to some individuals,” Tomihiro Tanaka, 69, told a news conference at the church headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 9.

But he explained that his apology was made outside the scope of criminal or civil liability, emphasizing that the church “has never committed a single crime.”

Tanaka was succeeded by Masaichi Hori, 55, a former vice president of the church in Japan, effective Dec. 9.

In October, the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, established a compensation committee to address demands for refunds of large donations.

“We decided to confront the issue beyond the confines of the law,” said Tanaka, who became president of the church in 2020.

He said things have started moving toward a resolution, citing, among other developments, many settlements in recent months of collective mediation cases filed by the Lawyers from Across Japan for the Victims of the Unification Church.

But the church faces another serious problem.

After a government investigation into the church’s financial activities, including its collection of often huge donations from followers, the Tokyo District Court in March ordered the dissolution of the religious organization.

The church filed an immediate appeal.

If the Tokyo High Court, which concluded hearings in November, upholds the dissolution order, liquidation proceedings will begin.

“I believe (the dissolution order) will be overturned at the high court,” Tanaka said.

Issues surrounding the church drew renewed public attention following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.

Tetsuya Yamagami, the suspect charged with murder and other crimes, testified in his trial at the Nara District Court that his family fell into financial hardship after his mother made large donations to the church, which had close connections to Abe.

As for his motive for the attack on Abe, Yamagami, 45, said, “I felt anger toward the church and wanted to strike a blow against it as retribution for the harm it caused.”

Asked about Yamagami’s trial, Tanaka said: “It is true that our organization was part of the background of the incident. But I suspect that the motive was not singular and involved a combination of complex factors.”

At a news conference on Dec. 9, lawyer Sou Kimura, secretary-general of the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, said Tanaka’s resignation “brings no closure of any kind.”

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