It's been a month since the 8th of last month, when former Prime Minister Abe was shot dead while giving a speech in Nara.
Tetsuya Yamagami, who was arrested, is believed to have caused the incident after growing a grudge against the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification" and the former Unification Church, to which his mother had donated a large amount.
In the wake of the shooting incident, the relationship between the former Unification Church and politicians and local governments has been revealed one after another.
We have summarized how each lawmaker, political party, local government, etc. explains and what kind of response they are doing.
Prime Minister Kishida instructs lawmakers belonging to the party to check the relationship with the former Unification Church
Prime Minister Kishida, at an extraordinary board meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party on the 8th, asked party lawmakers to avoid raising suspicion among the public regarding the relationship between the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification" and the former Unification Church. was inspected and instructed to review.
As the relationship between the former Unification Church and politicians has been revealed one after another, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno, at the request of Prime Minister Kishida, asked all cabinet ministers to examine the relationship and strictly enforce the relationship. I instructed them to conduct a thorough review.
In connection with this, Prime Minister Kishida pointed out at the party's extraordinary board meeting held on the evening of the 8th, "We must be very careful about relationships with groups that have been pointed out as social problems." Did.
After that, he said, ``I would like the members of our party to inspect and appropriately review the relationship with the organization in their responsibility as politicians so that the public will not have suspicion.''
Afterwards, Secretary-General Motegi said at a press conference, "Regarding the relationship with problematic groups, we must consider whether each member of the Diet was appropriate, even if they were not aware of it. This is a social issue of great interest to the public. There is, and it is basic that our party's members of the Diet should check and review with awareness and have no relationship from now on."
Defense Minister Kishi "I want to check the situation firmly"
At a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Defense Minister Kishi said, "Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno has instructed me to 'review it thoroughly,' and I would like to check the situation thoroughly."
When asked by reporters, "Have you ever sent a telegram or video message to a meeting of the former Unification Church?" he replied, "No."
Minister of the Environment Yamaguchi congratulatory telegram last year 2 cases "will not be issued in the future"
At a press conference after the cabinet meeting on the 5th of this month, Environment Minister Yamaguchi revealed that he had sent congratulatory telegrams several times in the past to events related to the former Unification Church.
Regarding this, at the press conference after the cabinet meeting on the 8th, I was able to confirm two congratulatory telegrams last year, and said, "It seems to be a summer event called Peace Road and a Christmas event. ' said.
On top of that, he said, "I have never been directly involved with the former Unification Church. It has been confirmed that I sent congratulatory telegrams in the past, so I will not send them in the future. I have instructed them not to do so. I will be more careful in the future." said.
Former member of the House of Councilors Mr. Miyajima “Support for elections from friendship groups”
A former member of the House of Councilors of the Liberal Democratic Party from Nagano Prefecture, Mr. Yoshifumi Miyajima, received support in the election from the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification", a friendship group of the former Unification Church, according to an interview with a former employee of the member's office. rice field.
This was revealed by a former employee of Mr. Miyajima's lawmaker's office in response to an interview on behalf of the person himself.
After working as the vice-director of a hospital in Nagano Prefecture, Mr. Miyajima, who is currently serving as chairman of the Japan Society of Medical Technologists, ran for the House of Councilors election in 2016 as a proportional representation candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party, winning more than 120,000 votes. I was elected for the first time.
A former Unification Church friend group, the World Peace Federation, supported the election, according to former officials.
Mr. Miyajima was introduced by another Diet member as an organization that could support him in the election and asked for his cooperation.
Regarding the circumstances at this time, the former staff member said, "I remember being very reassuring because I was wondering what to do because I was a complete amateur about elections and the political world."
He says he does not know the number of votes that this group has supported, but after he was elected, he began to be contacted regularly. or sent congratulatory telegrams.
On the other hand, according to a former employee, Mr. Miyajima was aiming for re-election in this year's House of Councilors election, but the faction he belonged to said that it would be difficult to cooperate in the election like last time, and he was an engineer with a support base. Because the party was busy dealing with the new corona, he declined the official approval of the Liberal Democratic Party and abandoned his candidacy.
Description of each political party
Liberal Democratic Party
The LDP explains that it has no organizational relationship with the former Unification Church.
However, Defense Minister Kishi announced that he had received help from people involved in election campaigns, and mainly Abe-affiliated lawmakers received support for elections and attended events of related organizations. What was going on has been revealed.
In addition, the former Shimomura Government Research Commission, who was serving as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology at the time when the name change of the former Unification Church was approved, denied its own involvement, but revealed that it had received donations from related organizations. .
There are also voices within the party pointing out that it is necessary to investigate the lawmakers who belong to the party, saying, "It is necessary to set a break to avoid damage to the administration."
Based on this, Prime Minister Kishida instructed the members of the party at the extraordinary board meeting on the 8th to check and review their relationships so that the public would not be suspicious.
New Komeito
Komeito has not conducted its own investigation, but admits that Hirotaka Ishikawa, a member of the House of Councillors, attended seminars of related organizations on behalf of his secretary and sent congratulatory telegrams.
Party officials say they have no other contacts.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan
The Constitutional Democratic Party has announced that eight members of the Diet were confirmed to be involved as a result of a survey of members of the Diet belonging to the party.
The secretary of Kazuhiro Haraguchi, former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, attended a meeting of related organizations as a proxy, and other lawmakers sent congratulatory telegrams and paid membership fees.
There was no donation from the church or support for the election campaign.
Japan Restoration Party
As a result of a survey of Diet members, the Japan Restoration Party announced that 15 people had some kind of relationship, such as attending events of related organizations and giving lectures at meetings.
Co-representative Baba, Secretary-General Fujita, Adachi, chairman of the political affairs research group of Diet members, and others are included.
He said he never received donations from related organizations and that there was no systematic support.
Communist Party
The Communist Party says it has "no connection" with the former Unification Church.
Democratic Party for the People
The Democratic Party for the People has revealed that Tamaki received a donation of 30,000 yen in 2016 from the former president of the former Unification Church-affiliated organization Sekai Nippo.
Reiwa Shinsengumi
According to Reiwa Shinsengumi, no relationship was confirmed as a result of a survey of members of the Diet who belonged to the party.
What is the relationship with local politics and administration?
Toyama City Mayor Fujii “Support from related organizations in the mayoral election”
Toyama Mayor Hirohisa Fujii said at a press conference on the 3rd of this month that he was receiving support from the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification," an organization affiliated with the former Unification Church, regarding the mayoral election held in April last year when he was first elected. made it clear that
Specifically, in addition to receiving support in soliciting activities for supporters' associations, during the election period, people involved in related organizations of the former Unification Church helped us make phone calls requesting votes, and the facilities of the former Unification Church. It means that I participated in a meeting held in and gave a speech.
In addition, in June this year, in response to a request from the "Toyama Prefecture Peace Ambassadors Association", an organization related to the former Unification Church, at the meeting of the group, the mayor himself reported on the city administration. , After the end, it means that the group resolved to launch the mayor's patronage group.
Mayor Fujii also revealed that Toyama City and the Toyama City Board of Education have sponsored two events this year and four events last year, which were held by organizations related to the former Unification Church.
At a press conference, Mayor Fujii said, "We lacked a firm grasp of the other party's activities. We will investigate thoroughly in the future and plan to respond more carefully than before."
Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Received a donation to a fund established by the city
Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture has received donations from the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification" = the former Unification Church's "Hamamatsu Family Church" to the "Hamamatsu City Friendship Welfare Fund", which was established to enhance social welfare projects. rice field.
After receiving an explanation that "I would like you to use part of the donations collected at the charity event for social welfare," I received a total of over 480,000 yen in donations three times from January 2019 to June this year. It means that
Takashi Watanabe, head of the welfare general affairs section of Hamamatsu City, said, "I knew it was the former Unification Church, but I don't know if it's still an ongoing problem because psychic marketing and large donations didn't surface as social problems at the time. No. It's not that we don't accept donations because we're a religious group, but we did accept donations after confirming whether the event was actually held and what it was about."
As a result of reconsidering the response, Hamamatsu City has decided not to accept donations from organizations in the future.
Hamamatsu Mayor Yasutomo Suzuki told NHK, ``The nature of the organization has been widely reported in the wake of the incident, and it has come to light. I would like to face it with a policy of not accepting or refusing."
Former Unification Church ``No organized support, but friendship groups are not limited''
"Family Federation for World Peace and Unification", the former Unification Church, regarding support in elections, "We will not systematically support a specific political party or a specific candidate. This is not the case for other friendly organizations. In addition, it is not possible to grasp the personal political activities of individual believers based on their freedom of thought and belief."
Expert ``Politicians need to cut off the relationship, not unnecessarily''
Makoto Kamikubo, a professor at Ritsumeikan University who specializes in contemporary Japanese politics, told NHK about the relationship between the former Unification Church and politicians, saying, "There are politicians in groups that have become socially problematic due to psychic marketing. The problem is that social credibility is given to the cult by getting involved in. As a result, there are many victims, and as a result, they are supposed to help the cult. It is important that there is a relationship, and politicians need to cut off the relationship, rather than obscure it."
He added, ``It is important for the Liberal Democratic Party, which has a particularly large number of related lawmakers, to take the leadership of the prime minister and party executives to correct the relationship by having each lawmaker properly verify and explain. We should be open to discussion,” he said.