Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday expressed eagerness to push for legal reforms designed to assist people financially affected by the Unification Church, saying the government is aware that the contentious religious group may have already broken the law.
The Kishida administration has decided to formally investigate the organization, which has come under public scrutiny over its links to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as well as allegations of causing its followers financial difficulties from dubious "spiritual sales" practices.
While the exact details of the legislation are yet to be revealed, Kishida pledged during a parliamentary session Tuesday that his government will seek to assist those who claim to have been financially affected by the group, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
Kishida said his administration is willing to submit the related legislation to the Diet during the current parliamentary session through Dec. 10.
The prime minister said he instructed the culture minister to investigate the Unification Church, given that the government had received more than 1,700 consultation requests over 25 days since a telephone hotline was set up on Sept. 5.
Among the complaints were potential "criminal cases," Kishida said at the session, adding the Unification Church may have "violated various norms, including criminal law."
Later in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the top government spokesman, said at a press conference that among the consultation requests, around 70 cases have been reported to the police.
Depending on the outcome of the investigation and judgment by a court, the Unification Church could lose its status as a religious corporation and be deprived of tax benefits, although it would still be able to operate.
The group has been in the spotlight since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down in July by a Unification Church member's relative, who held a grudge against the organization and regarded Japan's longest-serving premier as a supporter of it.
The probe into the religious group will be implemented under a provision of the Religious Corporations Law that allows authorities the "right to question" an organization.
The Unification Church has been the target of criticism mainly for its mass weddings and "spiritual sales," in which it pressures people to buy jars and other items for exorbitant prices via the use of threats, such as invoking "ancestral karma" as a catalyst for misfortune.
Keiko Nagaoka, minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, has said her ministry is eager to begin the probe as soon as possible, while Kishida said it is difficult to predict how long the investigation will run.
Kishida had previously been cautious about ordering a probe into the Unification Church, founded by a staunch anti-communist in South Korea in 1954 and often labeled as a cult, due in part to concern it could violate the principle of freedom of religion.
But he was forced to act against the religious group when connections between members of his LDP and the Unification Church were revealed, sparking public concern that the organization may have exerted political influence.
The issue has played a role in Kishida's Cabinet approval rating plunging to its lowest level since he took office in October 2021. The controversial decision to hold a state funeral for Abe on Sept. 27 and inflation-driven price rises without accompanying wage growth have also proven damaging to Kishida.
So far, only two religious organizations have received a dissolution order from a court because of legal violations in Japan.
One was the AUM Shinrikyo cult, which carried out the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and the other was the Myokakuji temple group based in Wakayama Prefecture.
The Myokakuji temple group's priests defrauded people who sought help by telling them they were possessed by evil spirits before charging them for exorcisms.
The government did not exert the right to question members of the two religious organizations, as the groups were ordered to disband after their executives were sentenced in criminal cases.
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