Unification Church Again

Japanese Court Orders Dissolution of the Unification Church

By Takuya Nishimura, APP Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun

The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
March 31, 2025. Special to Asia Policy Point

On March 25, the Tokyo District Court issued an order to dissolve the religious corporation, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), broadly known as former Unification Church (UC). The Court found that the UC had damaged its believers and their families through requirements for expensive donations. The Federation plans to appeal. The broader social issue, which goes beyond the district court’s ruling, is how to draw a line between religious groups and politics.
 
The UC was established in the Republic of Korea in 1954 and was incorporated in Japan in 1964. It changed its name to the current one in 2015. In several instances in the 1980s and 1990s, UC believers reportedly suffered from the expensive purchase of purported “spiritual” goods, such as porcelain vases or Korean ginseng.
 
The government, however, ignored these scams until the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. The shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, whose mother had donated over 100 million yen to the UC, plunging her family into poverty, explained that his motivation for the assassination was the close relationship between the UC and Abe.
 
Acknowledging accumulated damages on the believers, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology requested from the court a dissolution order to the FFWPU in October 2023. The Ministry argued that there had been at least 32 civil cases in which courts in Japan had ordered the Federation to compensate its believers’ from the financial harm caused by sales of putative religious objects and from compulsory donations.
 
Tokyo District Court found that the damages in those 32 cases between 1980 and 2009 amounted to 1,784 million yen on 168 believers, and recognized other 985 million yen of damages on 179 believers after 2009 when the federation issued a declaration of compliance. Based on those illegal activities, Tokyo District Court ordered dissolution of the FFWPU.
 
The Court based its order of dissolution on Article 81 of the Religious Corporation Act, which authorizes a court to dissolve a religious corporation when it commits an illegal activity obviously against the public welfare. The activity against the public welfare in this case was the FFWPU’s donation requirement, which rendered believers insolvent and unable to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.
 
There are two earlier dissolution cases that may be instructive. In 1995, in a fortunately rare case, a court ordered that Aum Shinrikyo be dissolved for its sarin attack on the Tokyo subway. In 2002, in a case like that of the FFWPU, a court ordered the dissolution of the Myokakuji Temple for fraud in seeking donations for their baseless spiritual powers. Both cases, however, were based on criminal law. The order against the FFWPU case is the first one based on violations of the civil code.
 
The FFWPU immediately announced its intention to appeal. “The civil court judgements, which are listed as grounds for dissolution, are cases of 32 years ago in average. All damages for the court judgements have already been paid and each of the cases has already been settled,” said the president of FFWPU, Tomihiro Tanaka, in his press conference at Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
 
Stripping the FFWPU of its status as a religious corporation does not prevent it from practicing its religion. Tanaka, however, contends that the court decision would interfere with the FFWPU’s freedom of religion under Article 20 of the Japanese constitution.  The FFWPU’s legal director, Norishige Kondo, has also noted that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Japan has adopted, confirms the rights of religious groups.
 
However, Article 18-3 of the covenant states that “Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.” 
 
The Deputy Chief Defense Attorney of Lawyers Across Japan for the Victims of the Unification Church, Masaki Kito, has asserted that the believers’ donations to the Federation disturbed their own constitutional rights: rights to their own property and a basic right to their life. According to Kito, the FFWPU also violated the believers’ freedom of marriage in the UC’s mass weddings.   
 
The appeals court faces a complicated task in reconciling the various rights asserted.  If the court affirms the decision of the district court, the process of dissolution will begin. Tokyo District Court estimates that the Federation possessed 1,136 million yen of assets at the time of March 2022. Once dissolution process starts, those assets will be liquidated and the FFWPU will no longer receive tax relief for religious corporation.
 
The nature of the FFWPU’s involvement in political activities over the years is not entirely clear. The former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, grandfather of Shinzo Abe, was one of the backers of the political branch of the UC, the International Federation for Victory over Communication. The founder of UC, Sun Myung Moon, urged his followers to support the Seiwa-kai, one of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) factions once led by Shinzo Abe and his father Shintaro Abe. Tanaka has stated, however, that each believer may vote for a candidate in each electoral district that best reflects their family values. Acceptable candidates are not limited to members of the LDP.
 
On the other side, the lawyers for the victims have emphasized that the FFWPU is under the strict control of the religion’s headquarters in South Korea and has a strong influence on Japanese politics, especially in the time of the Shinzo Abe administration. The lawyers have called for legislation to regulate foreign lobbyists or spies and to preserve the assets of the FFWPU to ensure the compensation of the victims as ordered by the district court and before the federation sends funds to South Korea or another foreign country.
 
Stressing that the LDP had cut off its relationship with the FFWPU, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned LDP lawmakers against any ties to the FFWPU. Ishiba observed that penalties for receipt of donations or other support from the Federation were possible. Whether the party can campaign without the FFWPU will be closely watched in the Upper House election this summer.
 
N.B.: The Unification Church [Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International], is also involved in U.S. politics through its ownership the conservative Washington Times and funding of conservative organizations such as CPAC. The family is currently in a legal dispute over the late-Reverand Moon’s assets