Japan: PM orders probe into a controversial religious sect

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida authorised an investigation into the divisive religious cult, the Unification Church, on Monday despite tremendous pressure from the opposition and declining support for his Cabinet, IANS reported.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the investigation was started based on the "right to ask inquiries" provided under the Religious Corporations Act. This is the first time the local government has used this power.

The investigation's findings may cause the group to lose its tax advantages and registration as a religious corporation.

In a parliamentary session on Monday morning, Kishida stated that he had ordered the investigation in response to more than 1,700 hotline requests for consultation that had been made since the beginning of September.

The government has also been asked by an advisory body to dissolve the organisation using the Religious Corporations Act or to conduct an investigation first.

The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the former name of the Unification Church, has come under fire for pressuring its adherents to give extravagant gifts in exchange for "karmic blessings" through "spiritual sales."

Some followers have been placed in financial devastation as a result of such gifts.

Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot and killed Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on July 8, also attributed his family's financial difficulties to the group.

"The government has taken seriously the fact that there are a large number of victims as well as poverty and broken families, and they haven't been provided with adequate relief," Kishida said during Monday's session.

In light of declining public support, pressure has been building on the government's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to clarify its affiliations with the group after promising to cut links in the past.

About half of the politicians, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Hiroyuki Hosoda, were found to have affiliations with the contentious group, which is sometimes referred to as a cult, according to an internal investigation conducted by the LDP last month.

Opposition parties and the general public have been deeply concerned that the controversial organisation may have been attempting to sway politics in this country through connections with LDP lawmakers.

Keiko Nagaoka, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, said her Ministry would begin the investigation at the earliest date.

In part, owing to the LDP's links to the dubious group, the approval rating for Kishida's Cabinet has dropped to 35 per cent, marking the lowest level since it took office in October last year, according to a local media poll.