Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave a campaign speech in support of Daishiro Yamagiwa’s Diet race. Yamagiwa has a history with the Unification Church and counts among his staff individuals with past involvement in the church.

Following the January 27, 2026, announcement that an election would be held for the lower house of the Japanese Diet, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President and current Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was crisscrossing the country to campaign for LDP candidates in tight races.

On January 31, she rushed to lend her support to Daishiro Yamagiwa, who was running for office in Kanagawa Prefecture’s 18th District. In 2022, Yamagiwa had been forced to resign as minister in charge of economic revitalization due to concerns over his ties to the Unification Church, which included a meeting with church leader Han Hak-ja. He had lost his single-seat constituency in the preceding lower house election in 2024.

In 2026, Yamagiwa was once again in a tight race.

According to an LDP poll obtained by Tansa, Hajime Sohno of the Centrist Reform Alliance was initially leading. In her speech to voters while campaigning for Yamagiwa, Prime Minister Takaichi urged, “I have worked alongside Mr. Yamagiwa to strengthen Japan’s economy. Please help him win this election.”

However, the politicians were concealing one crucial fact.

An individual with a history of involvement in the Unification Church had served as both secretary and treasurer in Yamagiwa’s staff — and this individual was also assisting Yamagiwa’s 2026 lower house race.

Since the TM Report came to light, Takaichi has stated, “Based on our internal investigation, the LDP has completely severed ties with the church, and we are strictly enforcing compliance with our strengthened governance code. We remain unwavering in this policy.”

An NHK appearance suspiciously cancelled

On February 1, the day after she gave a campaign speech for Yamagiwa, Takaichi abruptly canceled her scheduled appearance on a debate program aired by NHK, Japan national public broadcaster. The following day, February 2, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki attributed her absence to “her chronic rheumatoid arthritis worsening during the campaign and required treatment on the morning of the 1st.”

But in fact, Takaichi was giving speeches in Gifu and Aichi prefectures the day she missed the program. At the time, she explained her absence from the NHK program as, “Yesterday, while I was high-fiving people, someone pulled me too hard and I sprained my wrist” — a different explanation.

Something was off.

Tansa Editor-in-Chief Makoto Watanabe wondered whether Takaichi’s absence could be related to her recent campaign speech in support of Yamagiwa. Akiko Oishi of the Reiwa Shinsengumi party was scheduled to appear on the NHK program as well. In a party leaders’ debate aired on January 26 as part of TBS Television’s “news23” program, Oishi had raised that Takaichi’s name appeared in the TM Report. Takaichi, also present, emotionally retorted that such claims “amounted to defamation.”

Perhaps she feared that Oishi would confront her in the NHK debate as well about her campaign speech in support of Yamagiwa, who had resigned as minister after his ties to the Unification Church were exposed.

But was that really enough for Takaichi to cancel her appearance?

Watanabe wondered whether the cancellation could be related to the fact that Yamagiwa continued to employ as secretaries individuals who were once active believers of the Unification Church.

Secretary formerly a member of a “deceptive solicitation group”

Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly member Kuniko Ogawa, who hails from the same electoral district as Yamagiwa, was originally a Prefectural Assembly member for the LDP.

However, Ogawa could not accept the fact that, even after Shinzo Abe was assassinated, two former Unification Church members — let’s call them A and B — continued to work as secretaries among Yamagiwa’s staff, despite Yamagiwa publicly claiming to have severed ties with the church.

As an LDP prefectural assembly member in Yamagiwa’s district, Ogawa had previously assisted his election campaign. She knew that A and B had been active in the Unification Church.

Ogawa continued to call attention to Yamagiwa’s relationship with the Unification Church. In November 2024, she left the LDP to demonstrate her opposition.

In January 2025, A filed a criminal complaint against Ogawa with the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s Takatsu Police Station, accusing her of defamation. Yamagiwa’s office announced the reason for the complaint, stating, “Although we made it clear that we severed ties with the Unification Church, Ms. Ogawa persistently claimed that one of our secretaries was a member of the former Unification Church and even held a press conference about it. This constitutes a serious violation of their human rights.”

However, it is clear that A was active in the Unification Church.

Journalist Eito Suzuki provided a detailed report on A in the October 26, 2024, digital edition of the magazine “Bungeishunju.”

Suzuki had known of A for some time. In the mid-2000s, A was a member of one of the church’s “evangelism task forces,” groups of young believers who conducted street recruitment based on false pretenses. A was not a “working youth,” someone who carried out these activities while holding a job, but rather a “devotee,” a member who had renounced the secular world. Suzuki intervened at A’s recruitment sites on numerous occasions to prevent individuals from being unknowingly taken in by the church.

A also served as team leader with a Unification Church youth organization called “Begin,” which conducted campaign activities for local and national elections. Suzuki filmed A shouting slogans through a megaphone from a sound truck during a demonstration organized by the Unification Church in Akihabara, Tokyo, in 2010.

TBS’s “Hodo Tokushu (Special Report)” program also reported on A in November 2022.

According to the report, A was photographed at a church in Adachi, Tokyo, alongside Moon Hyung-jin, the seventh son of Unification Church founder Moon Sun-myung.

A former church member who had worked under A at the Adachi church told the TBS reporters that “A was the most enthusiastic among the group leaders. He often said, ‘It’s God’s will, so please join us in our political campaign activities. Let’s save this country together.’”

As for B, Ogawa says B replied “Yes” when she asked them whether he was a Unification Church member while helping clean up after a party hosted by the LDP’s Kawasaki City chapter.

In 2012, Yamagiwa posted a photo with both A and B, captioning it “Team Yamagiwa.”

Running the campaign

Now, back to February 2, 2026.

Tansa’s Watanabe was still sceptical of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Ozaki’s statement that Prime Minister Takaichi had cancelled her appearance on an NHK debate program due to “her chronic rheumatoid arthritis worsening during the campaign and required treatment on the morning of the 1st.” He suspected that Takaichi may have wanted to avoid being questioned about the fact that A and B, who had been active in the Unification Church, were still working for Yamagiwa’s office.

Ogawa was an acquaintance of Watanabe’s. He sent her an email, asking whether Yamagiwa had appointed anyone associated with the Unification Church to work on the 2026 election campaign.

“He has,” she replied. “I saw B staking out a spot on the street for Yamagiwa to give a speech.”

According to Ogawa, she had seen B securing a spot in front of Mizonokuchi Station in Kawasaki City at around 1:10 p.m. on February 1.

However, she didn’t have any information on whether A was helping Yamagiwa in the current election. On February 3, five Tansa members headed to Mizonokuchi Station to hear Yamagiwa give a public campaign speech. Takayuki Kobayashi, chairman of the LDP’s Policy Research Council, was scheduled to give a speech there as well.

Tansa spotted A. Wearing an orange jacket, he was coordinating logistics and greeting supporters with a smile. When the speeches began, A started taking photos with his smartphone. He moved deftly and with assurance, giving the impression of being a leader in Yamagiwa’s campaign.

In fact, A was listed as treasurer for the LDP Kanagawa Prefecture 18th Electoral District Branch — of which Yamagiwa is the representative — in a report on campaign finances that Yamagiwa’s office submitted to the Kanagawa Prefectural Election Commission on May 30, 2025. In other words, A was Yamagiwa’s treasurer.

A is also listed as one of Yamagiwa’s secretaries in the latest edition of the Directory of Japanese Government Officials (Winter 2025 issue).

Tansa sent a request for comment to Yamagiwa’s office and received the following response.

As we have already announced, our office has severed all ties with the former Unification Church.

We also sent a request for comment to the Unification Church, which responded as follows.

For privacy reasons, we are unable to answer questions regarding whether a specific individual is a member of our organization.

 

Furthermore, as a religious organization, we do not provide support or assistance to any specific politicians or political parties. Moreover, it is absolutely unthinkable that we would issue “instructions” regarding the activities of any specific politician.

 

Please note that while you describe the so-called “TM Report” as an “internal document prepared by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church),” our organization has not prepared this document. We consider it to be a dubious text that lacks credibility, as it likely contains significant exaggerations, fabrications, and edits by its authors.

TM Report: High hopes for anti-communist Takaichi’s China policy

Yamagiwa and Takaichi are also mentioned in the TM Report.

In an entry dated September 30, 2021, Masayoshi Kajikuri of the International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVC) described Yamagiwa as “a friend of mine” and expressed hope that he would assume key positions in the government and party leadership. He also stated that Han Hak-ja “remembers Yamagiwa well.”

Daishiro Yamagiwa, who is a friend of mine and who Mother remembers well, is also very close to [Prime Minister] Kishida. I look forward to seeing how many lawmakers of my generation with whom I am close will be appointed to key positions in the government and the party.

 

I also hope that as many as possible of the 78 members of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace will be elected in the general election and play an even greater role before Heaven. My dream is for these peace parliamentarians to formally invite Mother to Japan with a joint petition signed by 100 parliamentarians and to forge a bond with the Japanese Imperial Family. We are now entering a crucial period for making this a reality.

On October 3, 2021, Unification Church President Eiji Tokuno also mentioned Yamagiwa in a report, expressing his hopes for the politician and saying, “We are close to him in spirit.”

As True Mother may recall, on October 20, 2013, when we held a gathering to welcome True Mother at the Nagano Church — our only church facility at the time — a young, energetic, and handsome member of the Diet representing Yokohama came all the way to Nagano to serve as True Mother’s John the Baptist and deliver a guest address.

 

A graduate of the University of Tokyo’s veterinary school, he has had an extremely unique career and is set to be appointed Minister for Economic Revitalization. He shares our values, and, at 53 years old, we can expect him to play a significant role in the future.

The Unification Church also had high hopes for Takaichi — who supported Yamagiwa’s campaign amid her busy schedule — as a successor to Shinzo Abe.

Tokuno discussed the 2021 LDP leadership election, the results of which were announced on September 29 that year, in a TM Report dated September 18.

Regarding the LDP leadership election, recently media reports have begun to surface regarding scandals involving the four candidates. This serves as a stark reminder that the world of politics is inevitably destined to be a mudslinging contest. Of particular note is the fact that former Prime Minister Abe has been offering his full and wholehearted support to Sanae Takaichi.

 

In fact, his support has been so intense that it has begun to draw backlash from other LDP lawmakers, and there are even reports that Abe decided to stop overtly supporting Takaichi as of today.

 

[Former] Prime Minister Abe had gone so far as to say to lawmakers, “No one but Sanae Takaichi can lead Japan into the future. Didn’t I campaign for you too many times during my tenure as prime minister?” He was personally making phone calls to every current and former LDP lawmaker, urging them to support Sanae Takaichi.

 

It is true that this has led to a gradual but steady increase in support for Sanae Takaichi. However, the level of Abe’s support became so intense that it began to draw backlash from LDP lawmakers, resulting in the opposite of its intended effect. As a result, Abe now finds himself in a situation where he has no choice but to stop making the phone calls he was so enthusiastic about.

 

In any case, analysis shows that former Prime Minister Abe’s influence within the ruling LDP remains absolute, thanks to his having served as prime minister for seven consecutive years, the longest tenure in postwar history.

Fumio Kishida won the 2021 LDP leadership election and was appointed as Japan’s 100th Prime Minister by the Diet. In a TM Report dated October 1, Tokuno speculated that if Takaichi had become prime minister, Abe would likely have connected her to the Unification Church. He views Takaichi as right-wing and anti-communist, predicting that while she might be effective in dealing with China, she would not improve Japan-South Korea relations.

If Takaichi had been chosen, Japan’s 100th prime minister would be a woman, which would probably have been celebrated around the world.

 

Furthermore, given how close we are to former Prime Minister Abe, I have no doubt that he would have immediately connected us with Takaichi. However, as a staunch anti-communist with strong right-wing and democratic leanings, while she may be able to pursue a promising diplomatic policy toward China, I can only conclude that it is unlikely that Japan-South Korea relations would improve under her watch.

Main works cited
・ “Kanagawa-ken no shinkoku-na kyu Toitsu Kyokai osen: beteran kengi ga rito to hikikae ni uttaeta koto,” Eito Suzuki, Bungeishunju digital
・ “Kyu Toitsu Kyokai, Kensho 13 dan, Yamagiwa-giin to kyodan,” TBS “Hodo Tokushu (Special Report)”

(Korean–Japanese translation: Kang Min-ju)

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. It contains details on contact methods, points to note, and key aspects of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

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 February 5, 2026. )

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