Retirement of Japanese Official
After being questioned about his connections to a religious group on fire for connections to influential people in the wake of Shinzo Abe’s murder, a Japanese official retired on October 24, 2022. The Unified Society was not explicitly mentioned by Daishiro Yamagiwa, secretary for economic revitalization, when he said that his actions had “created difficulty for the state.”
The organization and its connections to a religious powerful politicians have come under scrutiny because the man suspected of murdering Abe in July hated the group. The reason for this was the significant payments his mother made that led to the family’s financial ruin.
Criticism of Actions
The Families Union for Global Stability and Harmony, the name of the religion, has refuted accusations of misconduct. A federal probe into the organization was requested last week by Party Leader Fumio Kishida after a slew of former leaders came forward to criticize its actions in Tokyo.
Supporters are alternately referred to as “Moonies” in honor of the group’s late leader, Sun Myung Moon from Seoul. Citing national media revelations regarding his purported connections to a religious, Yamagiwa has been subjected to criticism in government, in particular, even though he shared a family picture with Moon’s wife, Hak Ja Han, in 2019. The lawmaker had acknowledged that he had been in the picture, but on October 24, 2022, he admitted that his recollection of “the picture with the lady… is fuzzy.”
The New Successor
Yamagiwa expressed his apology, saying, “I profoundly regret if my participation at scheduled meetings of the organization has resulted in getting given to the above-mentioned organization.” “I had to follow up by providing explanations after someone not affiliated with the organization brought this to my attention. It consequently caused the federal government difficulties,” he said.
While Kishida declared that he had acknowledged the departure of the secretary and that he will name a successor, on Tuesday. Yamagiwa declared he will continue serving as a lawmaker though. According to the most recent survey by the broadcasting network NHK, the government’s popularity rating has plunged to only 38% after an internal investigation revealed that around half of Japan’s governing party politicians have interacted with the church.
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