Unification Church leaderships showed Abe pictures of influential people from various countries participating in its events. Abe was particularly interested in the Americans in attendance.

Japan’s newspapers, television stations, and wire services all have reporters assigned to the “prime minister beat.” These reporters shadow the country’s leader and report on his or her every move in sections such as “the prime minister’s activities” or “a day in the life of the prime minister.”

As such, various media outlets reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Koichi Hagiuda, acting secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), at the party’s headquarters from 11:21 a.m. on July 2, 2019.

However, the reports all omitted one crucial fact: Abe did not meet with just Hagiuda but was joined by members of the Unification Church’s Japan leadership.

We reported on this meeting in the fourth installment of this series, based on the TM Report prepared by Masayoshi Kajikuri, head of the International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVC) and who attended the meeting with Abe and Hagiuda.

This time, we will report the content of a written TM report about the meeting sent by Unification Church Chairman Eiji Tokuno to Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja. The letter matches the report provided by Kajikuri but goes into even more detail.

“News that will bring True Mother joy”

Tokuno’s report is dated July 2, 2019, the day he met with Abe and Hagiuda. In the text, his excitement is evident.

To our beloved True Mother,

 

Though it is a small matter, I am truly delighted to be able to share news that will bring you, True Mother, joy for the first time in a while.

 

Since this is merely a small beginning, it doesn’t mean that we are bringing you definitive joy, but rather that this is only the start of what is to come.

 

However, as the Korean proverb goes, “Well begun is half done,” and I truly feel that we have gotten off to a good start.

 

Today, July 2, at 11:20 a.m., I met with Prime Minister Abe and Koichi Hagiuda, the acting secretary-general of the LDP and the party’s second-in-command, in the reception room next to the president’s office at LDP headquarters. Our delegation consisted of five members: myself; Kajikuri, head of Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Japan; Yokota, chairman of the Federation for World Peace; Watanabe, former vice chairman of the Federation for World Peace; and Yasushi Matsumoto, secretary-general of the Federation for World Peace and former national leader in Mongolia. The meeting lasted 20 minutes.

 

The reception room at LDP headquarters, where our meeting took place, was adorned with photographs of every party president who had led the ruling LDP through postwar Japanese politics. It was a room that truly embodied the history of the LDP and, by extension, the history of Japanese politics.

 

There were photographs of all past party presidents, including former prime ministers Kishi, Fukuda, and Nakasone. Ninety percent of those who have served as LDP president then became [as the party in power] prime minister of Japan. I met with Prime Minister Abe in that historic reception room.

Abe and Hagiuda relieved to hear “200,000 votes at all costs”

Tokuno claimed this was the fourth time he had met Abe while the latter was serving as prime minister. But this time was special, as Abe’s camp had approached him with a request to support Tsuneo Kitamura in the upper house election scheduled for July 21, 2019. Kitamura, who previously served as political section editor and an editorial writer for the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, was first elected in 2013 and was running for a second term.

This is the fourth time I have met with Abe in his capacity as prime minister and in mine as chairman of the Family Federation [for World Peace and Unification] since he was elected to his second term on December 26, 2012. I also met with him twice during the period between his first and second terms, when he held no official position. In other words, this brings our total number of meetings to six.

 

I began by saying, “Thank you for all your hard work” regarding the G20 Osaka Summit. Then, we discussed some anecdotes from the summit, which helped create a friendly atmosphere.

Above all, it was clear that Prime Minister Abe and Acting Secretary-General Hagiuda wanted to hear the extent of our organization’s commitment to supporting Tsuneo Kitamura, the candidate endorsed by Prime Minister Abe, in this upper house election.

 

For this reason, I began by declaring that, while we had been able to mobilize 100,000 votes in the past, our goal this time is 300,000 votes, and that we will fight with the full force of our organization to secure at least 200,000 votes at all costs.

 

They seemed very happy and relieved to hear that.

“True Mother’s achievements were etched into Prime Minister Abe’s mind”

Tokuno also reported in detail how he had highlighted Han’s influence to Abe. He wrote that, upon learning that the Unification Church is in good standing with powerful figures in the United States, Abe had leaned forward.

I then said I would briefly introduce leader Han’s recent activities around the world, and I showed photos from the World Summit held in South Korea this past February, including one of True Mother delivering a speech with some 40 VIPs including heads of state seated behind her, photos of the current President of São Tomé and Príncipe and the current Governor-General of Tuvalu giving speeches, and photos of former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Vice President Dick Cheney giving speeches.

 

Then we showed more photos, such as those of [South Korean] President Moon Jae-in’s congratulatory video message at the Sekai Nippo newspaper’s 30th anniversary ceremony, photos of about ten cabinet members from the Moon Jae-in administration in attendance, and photos of [former American Deputy Secretary of State] Christopher Hill delivering a speech.

 

As he looked at the photos, Prime Minister Abe reacted most to the presence of American VIPs, asking, “Gingrich and Cheney came too? That’s amazing. Christopher Hill also attended your international conference?”

 

I was keenly reminded that the US’s influence over Japan is absolute.

 

I then showed him photos from our Africa Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the 100,000 Couple Blessing at Orlando Stadium there. He asked, “Do you really have such a strong base in South Africa?” and seemed particularly surprised by the photos from Orlando Stadium. I also showed him photos of [spiritual leader] Samuel Radebe and former President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan.

 

I also showed them photos from the recent American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) General Assembly in Las Vegas, US, and the Rally of Hope attended by 10,000 people.

 

As he viewed the album, Prime Minister Abe was most amazed to see the global base that we have built. I believe this was the first time that True Mother’s achievements had been so deeply etched into Prime Minister Abe’s mind.

“It was just a tie, but it was effective”

Abe’s mood brightened as the meeting drew to a close. In his report, Tokuno also revealed that he had gifted Abe and Hagiuda Hermès neckties.

Finally, I conveyed to Prime Minister Abe a message from leader Han: “I would like to congratulate you on the successful conclusion of the G20 Summit, and I have a special gift to offer as encouragement in the hope that you will continue to lead Japan in the right direction.” I then presented him with an Hermès necktie. I also presented a tie to Acting Secretary-General Hagiuda.

 

Actually, the idea for these gifts came from my wife this morning. She suggested that if we told Prime Minister Abe it was a gift from Mother, it would help him feel a stronger, more tangible and emotional connection to True Mother. We both agreed that this was a good idea, and so we gave him the tie, which my wife hurriedly bought at a department store.

 

Prime Minister Abe was very pleased. It was just a tie, but it was effective. I think he felt gratitude toward True Mother through this gift.

 

After that, Chairman Kajikuri gave a brief explanation of the specific campaign activities. Prime Minister Abe listened to the explanation with sincere interest and seemed pleased. I think Kajikuri explained it very well in a short time.

 

Finally, I suggested we take some commemorative photos. I took the lead in arranging individual shots of myself and Chairman Kajikuri with Prime Minister Abe, and we took photos from various angles. When I suggested, “Let’s take a photo while shaking hands,” Prime Minister Abe was very pleased and readily agreed to my request, shaking my hand. He also graciously agreed to the pair and group photos.

 

What surprised me most was that, just before I left, Prime Minister Abe asked if he could have the large photo album that I sometimes show Mother [the one Tokuno had showed Prime Minister Abe].

 

“Of course,” I said, and gladly handed it over. I am very pleased to think that if Prime Minister Abe has it and spends more time looking it over, it could have a very significant positive impact in the future.

 

Given the time constraints, I hesitated whether to bring up during today’s brief meeting our request that the Japanese government send a representative to the Nagoya conference in October and to the World Summit in South Korea next February. However, I ultimately decided that we should first achieve a result in this upper house election to demonstrate our support for the Abe administration, so that they regard us well, and then convey these requests to Prime Minister Abe when we meet with him again.

 

The official announcement of the upper house election will be made the day after tomorrow, July 4. Voting will take place on July 21. Although it was a brief meeting, it was a productive one that bodes well for the future. If, as I hope, Diet member Tsuneo Kitamura is re-elected to the upper house, I will have another opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Abe in a relaxed setting.

Tokuno to Abe: “Our fates are intertwined”

Feeling the meeting had been a success, Tokuno sought to further curry favor with Abe. Before the meeting closed, Tokuno went so far as say that their “fates were intertwined,” to which Abe agreed.

This is my fourth meeting with Prime Minister Abe since he became prime minister for the second time on December 26, 2012. Although it was the shortest of our meetings to date, I am confident that it was an effective and productive one.

 

During the meeting, I told Prime Minister Abe directly that I felt our fates were intertwined. I mentioned that we were both born in 1954 — he on September 21 and I on December 2 — which means he is just two and a half months older than me.

 

I also mentioned that it was truly uncanny that Prime Minister Abe was elected to his second term as prime minister by the Diet on December 26, 2012, the very same day of former Chairman Gentaro Kajikuri’s ascension and harmony [passing away], and when I was appointed as the Japan chairman by leader Han. And just like Prime Minister Abe, I have continued to serve in that role to this day.

 

I said that we shared these similarities and that I felt it was truly fateful. For his part, Prime Minister Abe listened with surprise, exclaiming “Oh!” and saying, “What a mysterious connection.”

(Korean–Japanese translation: Minju Kang)

Reporting on the “TM Report”

Regarding the TM Report, the Unification Church has refuted it, while the LDP has turned a blind eye.

On January 16, 2026, the Unification Church’s Public Relations Department of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification published “Our Organization’s View on the ‘TM Special Report’.”

Within their announcement, there is a report by a staff member who is said to have worked under Yun Young-ho, a former World Headquarters director who compiled the TM Report. It points out that the report is highly likely to contain deliberate omissions, alterations, and additions, concluding that it is “extremely lacking in credibility.” The report’s author remains anonymous, and no details regarding their position or role are disclosed.

It also states that, regarding the relationships with Japanese politicians described in the TM Report, “it cannot be ruled out that the expressions within the report go beyond the established facts, that the context has been embellished, or that the report includes content that cannot be verified as factual.”

From the Unification Church side, on January 8, 2026, former Chairman Eiji Tokuno also posted a statement on X. He acknowledged that “it is true that it includes a report I sent to the former World Headquarters Director to report to leader Han” while adding that “it also contains many personal opinions and wishful predictions.”

In September 2022, two months after the assassination of former LDP President Shinzo Abe, the LDP conducted an investigation into its ties with the Unification Church and concluded that “the party has no organisational relationship with the Church.” The investigation was severely inadequate, relying solely on self-reporting by lawmakers. Despite this, current party president Sanae Takaichi has shown absolutely no intention of evaluating the TM Report. On January 26, 2026, she appeared on TBS’s news23. When Akiko Oishi, co-chair of the Reiwa Shinsengumi, pointed out that Takaichi’s name appears in the TM Report, Takaichi called it a “document of unknown origin” and went so far as to say “that would amount to defamation”.

Tansa reviewed the entire 3,212-page Korean version of the TM Report.Making use of AI-based analysis, examining the document together with translators and our reporting partner, the Korean investigative journalism organization Newstapa.

Extensive research has been conducted on the Unification Church and a vast body of investigative findings has been accumulated by journalists and researchers, as well as by lawyers and religious scholars who have worked on victim support and countermeasures. Tansa respects the work of its predecessors and has utilised their findings to examine the TM Report.

As a result, we have determined that the TM Report is a crucial document in unraveling the longstanding codependency between the Unification Church and the LDP.

While continuing to report on the TM Report, we will pursue further investigation. If you have internal information regarding undisclosed ties between the Unification Church and the Liberal Democratic Party, we encourage you to contact Tansa. We will responsibly protect and keep confidential the identity of our sources.

For those wishing to provide information, please refer to the page below. It contains details on contact methods, points to note, and key aspects of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

https://en.tansajp.org/whistleblower/

The Unification Church changed its name to the “Family Federation for World Peace and Unification” in 2015, and the media refers to it as the “Former Unification Church.” However, because there is continuity in the fundamental problems inherent to the Church, Tansa will refer to it as the “Unification Church.”

 

January 27, 2026

Tokyo Investigative Newsroom Tansa

 

(Originally published in Japanese on January 31, 2026. )

The True Mother Files: How a Cult Religion Infiltrated Japan's Ruling Party: All articles