Despite the attempt of some Japanese politicians to distance themselves from it, the "Mon" sect is now a shadow force in Japanese political life, after its church has woven a wide network of supporters within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, according to what was stated in the newspaper "Le Monde" (Le Monde). ) French.

And the Moon sect is a sect that follows what is known as the “Unification Church”, which was founded by Sun Myung Moon in 1954 in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and this Moon is the son of a peasant family, in what is now North Korea, and he claimed that he saw - at the age of 15 - Jesus Christ, who, he claimed, asked him to continue his mission for humanity to reach a state of "sinless" purity.

After founding that church, Moon soon turned to politics, initially adopting a clear anti-communist line and attracting the sympathy of the South Korean military regime at the time.

The organization has gradually become an economic empire present in various sectors (construction, food, automobiles, tourism, media, etc.), which transformed its founder, who died in 2012, into a billionaire with strong ties with some state leaders and with part of the Japanese velvet class.

Le Monde newspaper correspondent in Tokyo, Philippe Mesmer, began his report on the influence of this sect in Japan with the story of Representative Hidemitsu Ito, who was elected 5 times to the General Council of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, representing Gifu Province (central Japan).


Mesmer says that this seventy-year-old confirms today that he was not aware of his benefit from the support of the Tawheed Church, which helped him during 10 years, without his knowledge, to win several elections. Many elected officials, as the Mon sect eventually became a shadow force in Japanese politics.

To confirm what he went to, the reporter cites a study conducted by the Japanese daily newspaper "Asahi" in August and September 2022, in which it revealed that 150 parliamentarians and 7 governors out of 47 and 290 elected to the General Council (more than 10% of the total) admitted their links to the sect and that 80% of these are members of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Mesmer quotes Japanese journalist Ito Suzuki, who has been investigating since 2002 the penetration of the "Unity Church" into the Japanese political sphere, as saying, "Politicians are not very interested in what is happening. They know that this organization has caused problems, but they do not want to reveal their ties to it." He pointed out that both major parties in Japan have justifications for this, perhaps the goal was to "win the elections for some, and gain respect for others."

The links between the Moon sect and the Japanese political world, according to Mesmer, go back to the 1960s, when this sect benefited from the support of power in South Korea, particularly the local intelligence services, and the Unification Church became a political tool in South Korea but also in Japan.

The reporter pointed out that the first official recognition of this sect in Japan was during the era of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (1896-1987), grandfather of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (1954-2022), through the International Union for Victory over Communism, one of the branches of this sect. Kishi granted the status of a "Christian" religious community to this community in July 1964.

The writer indicated that the assassination of Abe on July 8, 2022 was related to his relationship with the "Moon" sect, according to what the person who assassinated him acknowledged.