The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
Government submits questions to Unification Church over allegations
The government submitted questions Tuesday to the Uni cation Church at the start of its investigation into the group ofcially called the Family Federation for World Peace and Uni cation. Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Keiko Nagaoka told a press conference that the government would send a list of questions to the group and it would have until Dec. 9 to respond.
Based on the response, the government will decide whether to request a court order to dissolve the Uni cation Church.
The “right to ask questions” is a provision under the Religious Corporations Law that allows the government and relevant authorities to request reports from religious groups. e provision can be applied when a religious organization is suspected of violating certain regulations, but it has not been used since it came into force in 1996.
“We will ask [the Uni cation Church] to report on its rules and documents related to the group’s operation, as well as documents and books related to its income and property,” Nagaoka said. “We’ll uncover objective facts.”
Through the questioning, the government wants to ascertain the possibly systemic nature of several allegations against the group.
The government will scrutinize the submitted materials and replies, and ask further questions about suspected illegal acts, thereby examining potential wrongdoing and whether illicit acts have been continuing.
By law, representatives of a religious corporation can be ned up to ¥100,000 if the corporation makes false answers or fails to respond. e government can also enter a religious group’s facilities, with its consent, to conduct an investigation. A focus of the upcoming investigation is whether the Church is cooperative and provides su cient answers.
Nagaoka received instructions from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Oct. 17 and began discussions over exercising the right to ask questions. On Nov. 8, the Cultural A airs Agency sought advice from religious leaders and other experts and decided on criteria for exercising the right, which can be used when there is evidence of “widespread damage or signi cant impact” stemming from illegal acts by a religious group.
There are 22 court rulings regarding the Uni cation Church, two of which deemed that illegal acts had been committed systematically, and 20 of which found it liable as an employer under the Civil Code.
Consultation centers set up by the government to handle issues related to the church had received about 3,800 inquiries as of Nov. 11.
Taking into account the rulings and other factors, Nagaoka deemed that the situation surrounding the Uni cation Church meets the agency’s criteria and decided to exercise the right to ask questions.
With support from the Justice Ministry and the National Tax Agency, the cultural agency prepared the list of questions. It was approved by the Religious Juridical Persons Council within the agency on Monday.
The government plans to seek a court order to dissolve the group if a court judges there were “systematic acts, intent to do wrong, and continuation” in the Church’s problematic actions.
The Uni cation Church told the Yomiuri Shimbun that the group would “reply in good faith to the wishes of the government and the cultural agency.”
745 ADOPTIONS OVER 41 YRS
The Uni cation Church has allegedly facilitated as many as 745 adoptions for its members in Japan over the last 41 years, it has been learned.
On Tuesday, the government submitted questions to the group o cially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Uni cation as part of an investigation into the revelations.
Punitive measures could include administrative guidance or criminal prosecution as unauthorized mediation in adoptions is prohibited under the Adoption Agency Law, which came into effect in 2018.
Questions were submitted jointly by the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, according to the government, which set a Dec. 5 deadline for a response.
The government wants to con rm the number of adoptions, details regarding the involvement of the Uni cation Church, and whether money was involved.
According to the Uni cation Church, 745 children were adopted by members of the group in Japan from 1981 to May this year.
“The adoption activity was meant to help followers in need of help. We will provide honest responses to the government’s questions,” the Uni cation Church told the Yomiuri Shimbun. (Nov. 23)