In the eyes of Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi, Shinzo Abe was her “political mentor.”

On January 5, 2026, she visited Ise Shrine carrying with her a portrait of Abe.

Abe was a significant figure to the Unification Church. Over the three generations since Nobusuke Kishi, the Church has depended on the Abe family as a ”protector” of its activities in Japan.

Even as followers fell victim to exorbitant donations and fraudulent ‘spirit sales’, the cult managed, for six decades, to gather funds in Japan and funnel them to Korea.

In the “TM Report” to Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, an executive of the Japanese Church boasted that “there existed a ‘secret heavenly route to the Abe family that no one could predict”

Soliciting Donations from “The Japanese who lack initiative”

How important is Japan as a source of funding for the Unification Church?

On 6 March 2018, Eiji Tokuno, chairperson of the Unification Church of Japan, stated in TM Report:

I said “We must never approach the mission of the Mother Country [Japan] with a sense of burden or passivity; that is, it should not be undertaken out of obligation or a sense of duty. Rather, it is a providence granted to Japan to settle its history so that Japan can continue to thrive. The divine providence that chose us [Japan] as the Mother Country is one of offering for the sake of the world.” I spoke for about 40 minutes. I then urged everyone to work more actively and with gratitude, as starting this month the donation target has been increased by 30%.

Essentially, Tokuno is saying that Japanese followers should be grateful to the Church, as it has ‘blessed’ them with this opportunity to make donations and atone for Japan’s colonial sins against Korea, despite the donation target being increased by 30%.

On a page in the TM Report, dated January 10, 2019, Tokuno referred to the ‘characteristics’ of Japanese followers in terms of the ‘national character’.

As True Mother knows, the Japanese character lacks initiative, this is a key feature of their national character. As although the content of immediate goals holds importance to them, they have a tendency to be greatly influenced by the atmosphere around them. 

Consensus on “Anti-Communism”

The Church used their doctrine to justify the funneling of money that the Church collected through donations and sham ‘spirit sales’ from Japan to the Unification Church headquarters in Korea.

“Japan, the ‘Even nation’ committed the crime of colonial rule, and thus must atone to Korea, the ‘Adam nation’.”

However, LDP politicians like Nobusuke Kishi must have found it hard to embrace a doctrine that criticised Japan in such a manner. Kishi had always held of to a mindset of Japanese superiority, and he found it intolerable to hear the criticism Japan faced after losing the war. In his memoirs he wrote:

“Apparantly, the Americans were astonished by the high moral standards of the Japanese people as a whole. Such as the bravery of the Japanese military, which was symbolised by the Kamikaze pilots, the discipline in absolute obedience to their superiors, the samurai spirit of choosing death over surrender, and the people’s resilience in enduring hardship and privation, coming together in an overall sense of unity.”

“The basis of the early occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers, led by the U.S., was to hold the Japanese people solely accountable for the war, and to convince them that their humiliation and struggles were of their own doing. Through this lens, the Tokyo Trials were a ‘show’ in whcih absolute power was exercised.”

Despite his dislike of the allies, Kishi was also opposed to Communism.

On December 24, 1948, Kishi was released from Sugamo Prison along with other “Class A war criminals,” including Ryoichi Sasakawa and Yoshio Kodama. He later went on to pursue a political career as an anti-communist. Sasakawa and Kodama were right-wing activists who would later become influential power brokers supporting the LDP.

Moon Sun-myung, the founder of the Unification Church, also played a role in the anti-communist movement. Despite the Church’s explicitly anti-Japanese doctrine, Kishi chose to work with it on the basis of their shared commitment against communism.

Unification Church Headquarters in Kishi’s Former Residence

The Unification Church was officially recognised as a religious corporation in Japan in 1964. Kishi, Sasakawa, and Kodama supported the Unification Church’s activities in Japan. In 1968, the three served as founders of the International Federation for Victory over Communism, the organization responsible for political operations within the church.

The Unification Church established its headquarters next to Kishi’s private residence in Shibuya, Tokyo, a property where Kishi himself had lived.

Kishi visited the headquarters in 1970, 1971, and 1973, where he delivered speeches encouraging the church’s followers. During his visit to the headquarters in April 1973, he stated:

“As mentioned earlier, I believe this is my third time here. I had a strange connection with the Unification Church before even visiting here. I lived next door to some young men in Nanpeidai.I did not really know who they were, but every Sunday they held services, and I could hear their hymns.”

“Mr. Sasakawa sympathizes with the Unification Church and wishes to strengthen this movement. He told me that these people who come next door to you are innocent young people whom I hope at heart will evolve. I have high hopes that they have a great mission to save Japan from this current chaos in the future.”

“There have been a lot of misunderstandings regarding the Church, the media has been making a big fuss, saying things like they are making their parents cry. Since the Church was next door, after hearing about this, I decided to go over one Sunday after their service and have a chat with them.”

“Educating Prime Minister Abe” through his “Godmother”

“The media has been making a fuss about them making parents cry.” As Nobusuke Kishi said, from the late 1960s, the Unification Church’s activities became a social problem, with converted students calling their parents “Satan” and running away from home. Later, reports spread about “spiritual sales,” which force people to buy expensive items by inciting fear, accusing them of being possessed by evil spirits, as well as the large donations made by followers.

However, by cultivating ties with politicians from the LDP, the Unification Church sought to protect its own organisation. In particular, since the time of Nobusuke Kishi onward, penetrating the Abe family has been a key objective of its political maneuvering.

On January 23, 2020, Unification Church Chairperson Eiji Tokuno stated within the TM Report:

Mrs. Ota has an emotional bond dating back many years to former Prime Minister Kishi, having communicated with him in the past. Through that connection, she has maintained a long-standing relationship with Mrs. Yoko Abe, the daughter of former Prime Minister Kishi and the mother of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Even now, she is said to be personally invited to Mrs. Abe’s home on a regular basis, where they continue to meet.

“Mrs. Ota” refers to Ikue, the wife of Hirokazu Ota, who served as chairman of the International Federation for Victory over Communism.

What is particularly interesting is that Mrs. Yoko Abe resides on the second floor of the building, while Shinzo Abe and his wife live on the third floor. Prime Minister Abe is said to sometimes dine with his mother and according to Mrs. Ota, she had received a message just two days earlier from Mrs. Yoko Abe inviting her to meet at her home for lunch. 

Yoko Abe was regarded as a figure to whom even Shinzo Abe held deference, and was often described as the “godmother of politics.” She lived with the Abe couple at their family home in Tomigaya, Shibuya Ward.

She is also said to have presented Mrs. Yoko Abe with a book written by Chairman Ota titled ‘Resolving Grudges’, which argues that Korea and Japan were originally one entity from ancient times, and that much of contemporary Japanese culture and tradition originated on the Korean Peninsula. While doing so, she asked “Please give this to your son, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.” Mrs. Yoko Abe then responded by promising “Of course I will certainly pass it on to Prime Minister Abe.”

 

She then told Mrs. Abe, “Considering the current situation with China and North Korea, Prime Minister Abe must continue to serve as prime minister for a little longer, ” adding, “I hope he will make greater efforts toward Japan-Korea relations!” She then advised, “To that end, I ask that you, as his mother, Mrs. Yoko Abe, take even better care of Prime Minister Abe and guide him properly!”

The leader of the Unification Church, Han Hak-ja, was dissatisfied with Shinzo Abe’s understanding of Japanese-Korean history. According to the TM Report, Han issued instructions calling for Abe to be “educated.” It is thought that Ikue Ota, with Han in mind, urged “greater efforts toward Japan-Korea relations.”

Tokuno boasted that he had a connection to the Abe family through Ikue Ota, which he described as “a heavenly, secret route that no one could predict.”

When I heard from Mrs. Ota that there existed such a direct channel for offering advice to Mrs. Yoko Abe, the prime minister’s mother, I honestly felt deeply that there was a secret, heavenly route beyond anyone’s prediction, and that through the great heavenly of True Mother, heaven’s profound providence was unfolding in a truly mysterious and wondrous way.

 

I deeply felt that the fact that a path directly to Prime Minister Abe has been paved through Mrs. Yoko Abe, the daughter of former Prime Minister Kishi and mother of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, makes me keenly aware that even in Japan, the veins of Heaven’s great blessings of victory were beginning to flow.

(Korean-Japanese Translation: Minju Kang)

Key References

Yoshifu Arita. (2024). The Unification Church: What No One Has Written About. Shueisha. (Published in Japanese)

Nobusuke Kishi. (1983). Kishi Nobusuke Memoirs: Conservative Merger and Security Treaty Revision. Kosaido Publishing. (Published in Japanese)

History of the Japanese Unification Movement. (2000). Kogensha. (Published in Japanese)

Masahiro Nakano. (2023). Collusion between the Unification Church and the Government/LDP. Susumu Shimazono (Ed). Politics and Religion: The Unification Church and Public Spaces in Crisis. Iwanami Shoten. (Published in Japanese)

“The Origin of the ‘Organizational Relationship’ that has existed between Abe’s Three Generations and the Unification Church for Half a Century: ‘If there are 40 Followers, One Can get Elected.’” News Day 2024. TBS, December 29, 2024. (Broadcasted in Japanese)

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://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 27, 2026. Translation by Mana Shibata and Jabreel Williams)

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