It turned out that Chiba City sent congratulatory telegrams and sponsored events hosted by the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification" former Unification Church-related groups.
According to Chiba City, the congratulatory telegram was sent in 2019 at a ceremony related to Paraguay in South America, hosted by a group related to the former Unification Church.
After receiving a request from the organizer, the department in charge decided to send the letter under the name of the then mayor of Kumagaya, as the cities of Chiba and Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, are sister cities.
In 2018, Chiba City also sponsored an event hosted by an organization believed to be related to the former Unification Church.
Chiba Governor Kumagai, who was serving as mayor at the time, told reporters on the 24th, "I heard that there was a request in the relationship between sister cities and the department in charge made a decision. I myself have no idea. It's nothing,' he said.
On top of that, he said that he should be careful about the relationship between the group in question and the politician, saying, "As a politician, I have no relationship with the former Unification Church-related group."
The Chiba City International Exchange Division said, "From now on, when sending congratulatory telegrams or sponsoring, we would like to carefully confirm the organization and organizer."
In addition, in Chiba Prefecture, the mayors of Sakura City, Togane City, and Futtsu City attended ceremonies of events believed to be related to the former Unification Church held last year.
At the time, none of the three cities were aware that the former Unification Church was involved.