Japan Press Weekly

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2026 March 4 - 10 [POLITICS]

JCP Diet questioning reveals that PM Takaichi was interviewed five times in Unification Church-related paper

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae between 1994 and 2001 agreed to be interviewed five times in the Unification Church-related newspaper, the Sekai Nippo. This was revealed by Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Tatsumi Kotaro in his Diet questioning on March 3.

At a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, Tatsumi pointed out that in the same period of time when PM Takaichi appeared in the Sekai Nippo, illegal “spiritual sales” activities and “mass wedding” of the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) grabbed headlines nationwide. He criticized Takaichi for giving a seal of approval to the cult group’s antisocial activities through her appearance in the Sekai Nippo. He said, “It is absolutely necessary for PM Takaichi to disclose to the public all information regarding her ties with the Unification Church as well as the connection between the Liberal Democratic Party and the antisocial cult.

On the following day, the Tokyo High Court issued a ruling ordering the dissolution of the Unification Church. With this court ruling, the organization will be stripped of its status as a religious corporation.

The court recognized that at least 1,559 people were victimized by the cult’s illegal activities, with total damages amounting to about 20.4 billion yen. Meanwhile, data of the National Lawyers Network against Spiritual Sales show that between 1987 and 2023, the number of consultation cases totaled 35,287 and the total amount of damages reached 133.9 billion yen.