Tokyo Investigative Newsroom Tansa

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

How has the Unification Church embedded itself within Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for more than sixty years? A document known as the “TM Special Report,” submitted to the Church’s leader, Han Hak-ja, revered within the organisation as the “True Mother”, lays bare the cult's true intentions, ambitions and political strategies in striking detail. Since the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the LDP has sought to obscure its long-standing ties to the Church as public scrutiny intensified. However, a joint investigation by the Japanese and South Korean independent news outlets Tansa and Newstapa exposes the depth of the symbiotic relationship between the Unification Church and the LDP, one both sides have worked to keep out of public view.