Investigator丨Yang Yiran
Quick Facts
The archives of the "Unification Church" show that the organization began to operate in Japan in the late 1950s, which partially overlapped with the term of Shinzo Abe's maternal grandfather Nobusuke Kishi. However, there is no solid evidence that the "Unification Church" was actively introduced to Japan by Nobusuke Kishi. According to archives, at that time, Japan and South Korea had not yet established diplomatic relations, and the first "missionary" Cui Fengsheng was facing deportation and was even arrested by the Japanese police many times.
There is evidence that Nobusuke Kishi developed political and economic ties with the "Unification Church" after he stepped down as prime minister in the 1960s. The two coincided with each other politically and ideologically and colluded on issues such as "anti-communism" and elections. Moreover, Nobusuke Kishi also had personal relationships with senior officials of the "Unification Church".
Background of the incident
At 11:30 a.m. on July 8, local time, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot while delivering a speech on the streets of Nara City . He was immediately sent to the hospital for treatment, but died of his injuries. Nara Prefecture police said that the suspect's name is Shan Tetsuya, 41 years old, from Nara City, unemployed, and served as a member of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force from 2002 to 2005.
Kyodo News reported on the 11th that the suspect said about the "Unification Church": "The person who introduced the "Unification Church" from overseas was former Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke, so I killed Abe." The local police in Nara believe that the suspect listened to false news from the Internet and other sources, and directed his dislike of Kishi Nobusuke to his grandson Abe. The police are conducting further investigations.
In September last year, a screenshot of the video of Shinzo Abe attending a speech event related to "United Families for World Peace and Unification" after the "Unification Church" was renamed.
So, how did the "Unification Church" come to Japan? What is the connection between its development and growth in Japan and Nobusuke Kishi, the former Japanese Prime Minister and the grandfather of Shinzo Abe?
Mingcha
How did the “Unification Church” come to Japan?
In 1954, Moon Sun-myung founded the "World Christian Unification Holy Spirit Church" in Seoul, the capital of South Korea (now Seoul, Seoul), which is also known as the "Unification Church". The first time the "Unification Church" spread in Japan relied on a "missionary" named "Bong Chun Choi".
Choi Fengsheng, also known as Masaru Nikishiwa, according to the electronic archives of the "Unification Church History Compilation Committee" (FFWPU History Compilation Committee), Choi arrived in Tokyo from Busan in June 1958 (some say July 1958), and held the first "Unification Church" prayer ceremony in October 1959. Since Japan and South Korea did not establish diplomatic relations at the time, Cui Fengsheng's trip to Japan was not smooth. He had to sneak into the country by boat and faced the dilemma of being arrested by the police many times. "He was arrested, but feigned illness by fasting to avoid deportation. (Cui) was transferred from prison to a medical clinic and escaped from the clinic, and successfully planted the seeds of the Unification Church in Japan," the
file reads.
"Unification Church" file information.
Although some information shows that Cui Fengsheng was deported by the Japanese authorities in 1964, according to the memories of early believer Tomiko Ishii, when "leader" Moon Sun-myung visited Japan for the first time in January 1965, he was accompanied by three "missionaries" including Cui Fengsheng and Shuki Kubogi, the first president of the Japanese branch of the "Unification Church". In December of the same year, Japan and South Korea formally established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.
Excerpts from the memoirs of Tomiko Ishii.
Shuki Kubogi joined the Unification Church in 1962 and served as the first president of the Japanese branch of the Unification Church in 1964. In the same year, the "Unification Church" was authorized by the Tokyo Governor to become a legal religious group. Over the next half century, the "Unification Church" gradually took root in Japan and developed rapidly, slowly evolving into a large-scale organization integrating religion, business, politics and other forces, and even established intricate connections of interests with the Liberal Democratic Party. Even after the death of "leader" Moon Sun-myung in 2012, its development momentum has not weakened.According to reports, today's "Unification Church" claims to have 600,000 believers, and its influence has penetrated all aspects of Japanese society.
What is the connection between Nobusuke Kishi and the “Unification Church”?
According to the records of the "Unification Church" archives, the early spread of the church in Japan coincided with the tenure of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (1957-1960). Combining the time when it was introduced into Japan and the early missionary behavior of Choi Fengsheng, the first "missionary in Japan", there are currently no clear documents to support Tetsuya Yamama's statement that "Nobusuke Kishi took the initiative to introduce the Unification Church." However, this does not mean that Nobusuke Kishi is completely decoupled from the "Unification Church" activities. On the contrary, there are intricate entanglements between the two in terms of political and economic interests.
In January 1974, Sun Myung Moon delivered a speech entitled "Following Our Heavenly Father" at a large rally near Washington, D.C., USA, describing the scene in which three female believers met Nobusuke Kishi. He said: "Once, in Japan, three of our members were sent to make friends with the then Prime Minister Mr. Kishi. Rain or shine, these three girls would visit his office every day. When they learned about his (Kishi) schedule in advance, they would go directly to prepare and wait with a smile. As time passed, The initial hostility between Mr. Kishi and the staff began to melt away. The 3 girls provided this kind of sacrificial service that was not seen anywhere else. The first time one of the girls spoke to him (Nobusuke Kishi) privately, she said, 'Your staff is so mean to us, but I love you. I am here to serve you. I ask God to forgive them. Our members are witnessing in the streets, selling flowers to help liberate Japan from a godless ideology so that we can bring heaven here. I'm here to get your advice. You are a great leader, can you give us leadership? ’ He (Nobusuke Kishi) was shocked, and his conscience was hurt. He has never seen such patriotism...”
Excerpt from Moon Sun Myung’s 1974 speech, source tparents.org.
Sun Myung Moon himself did not personally attend the meeting between the three girls and Nobusuke Kishi. His vivid account above may be exaggerated, and its authenticity is still questionable. However, many archival materials show that after resigning as Prime Minister, Kishi Nobusuke had close contacts with the church’s top leaders, and his power directly contributed to the development of the “Unification Church” in Japan.
On the one hand, Nobusuke Kishi has private relationships with "leader" Moon Sun-myung and Shuki Kuaikubo. Shuki Kubogi mentioned in his 1996 memoir "Love of Heaven, Love of Country, Love of People" that in the 1960s, the headquarters of the "Unification Church" in Tokyo was located at "Minamidai, Shibuya-ku" (according to the "History of the Unification Movement in Japan", in 1964, the headquarters of the "Unification Church" in Japan moved from Osawa, Setagaya-ku to No. 45 Minamidai, Shibuya-ku, and soon after moved to Shotocho, Shibuya-ku), which happened to be adjacent to Nobusuke Kishi's mansion. Kubogi Shuki called Kishi a "neighbor" and said he often visited the headquarters of the "Unification Church".
Cover of Shuki Kubogi's memoirs.
On November 23, 1973, Nobusuke Kishi met with "leader" Moon Sun-myung and "leader" wife Han Hezi at the headquarters of the "Unification Church", leaving the following famous and criticized group photo.
From left are Lee Sang-hyun, president of the "Unification Thought Research Institute", Moon Sun-myeong, Kishi Nobusuke, Han Hak-ja, Kim Young-hyun, the former president of the "Unification Church" in Korea, and Shuki Kubogi.
Richard Samuels, professor of political science and director of the Center for International Studies at MIT, mentioned this complex connection between Nobusuke Kishi and his followers and the "Unification Church" in his 2003 book "Machiavelli's Children: Italian and Japanese Leaders and Their Legacies." Samuels pointed out that the headquarters of the "Unification Church" in Japan was built on land once owned by Nobusuke Kishi, and since the early 1970s, church members have served for the election of some Liberal Democratic Party politicians without compensation. Shinzo Abe's father and Nobusuke Kishi's son-in-law Shintaro Abe also relied on the help of the "Unification Church" in the election.
Page 245 of "Machiavelli's Children: Italian and Japanese Leaders and Their Legacies" mentions the connection between Nobusuke Kishi and his followers and the "Unification Church".
On the other hand, there is also political and ideological collusion between Nobusuke Kishi and the "Unification Church". In the late 1950s, in order to win the support of upper-level political forces, the "Unification Church" raised the banner of "anti-communism" and thus transformed from a religious organization into an "anti-communist" "crusade". This coincided with the ideology of important figures in the Japanese and Korean governments at the time. In 1968, Moon Sun-myung established the "International Victory League", an anti-communist organization with a strong right-wing flavor in Japan, with Japanese right-wing politician and businessman Ryoichi Sasakawa serving as the honorary president. Ryoichi Sasakawa was the key figure in connecting the Unification Church with Nobusuke Kishi.
In March 2015, believer Katsuhiro Motoyama talked about the connection between Nobusuke Kishi, Ryoichi Sasakawa, and the so-called "International Victory Alliance" at the "Cheon Il Guk Leaders' Assembly" organized by the "leader" wife Han Hezi, and said that Nobusuke Kishi had expressed sympathy for the "unification movement" and hoped to strengthen the (influence of) this movement.
"He (Nobusuke Kishi) told me that he thought the young people of the 'unification movement' were very pure. He also said that he very much looked forward to their continued development and playing an important role in saving Japan in the future," Motoyama Katsuhiro said.
Excerpts from Motoyama Shengkuan’s speech, source: tparents.org.
"Unification Church" archives record that Nobusuke Kishi has participated in promotional activities organized by the "International Victory Alliance" on many occasions. In 1970, Nobusuke Kishi, who had resigned for many years, delivered a speech at a conference held at the Tokyo headquarters of the Unification Church in Shotocho, Shibuya District, advocating the "U.S.-Japan Security Treaty" signed during his tenure and promoting his "anti-communist" political views.
In 1970, Nobusuke Kishi gave a speech at the Tokyo headquarters of the "Unification Church".
In 1998, Kazuto Nishijima, a Japanese "pastor" of the "Unification Church" who preached in Austria, listed "34 blessed spiritual figures" in human history. This long list not only includes sages such as Sakyamuni and Socrates, as well as important figures in Christian classics such as "Jesus", "Joseph" and "James", it even includes contemporary political figures such as former South Korean President Park Chung-hee and former U.S. President Richard Nixon. Shinzo Abe’s grandfather and former Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi is also among them. Nishijima introduced his Kishi Nobusuke as “a long-term contact person of the ‘International Victory Alliance’ movement in Japan.”
Nishijima ranked Kishi Nobusuke 25th among the "34 Blessed Spiritual Figures".
To sum up, the archives of the "Unification Church" show that the organization began to operate in Japan in the late 1950s, which partially overlapped with the term of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Shinzo Abe's grandfather. However, there is no solid evidence that the "Unification Church" was actively introduced to Japan by Nobusuke Kishi. According to archives, at that time, Japan and South Korea had not yet established diplomatic relations, and the first "missionary" Cui Fengsheng was facing deportation and was even arrested by the Japanese police many times. There is evidence that Kishi Nobusuke developed political and economic ties with the "Unification Church" after he stepped down as prime minister in the 1960s. The two coincided with each other politically and ideologically, colluding on issues such as "anti-communism" and elections, and Kishi also had personal relationships with senior officials of the "Unification Church." In 1997, the "Unification Church" was recognized as a cult organization by the Chinese government.
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