Category: Japan

The Unification Church has definitely been in the headlines recently due to its link to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:

The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known as the Unification Church, claimed that the church and its members in Japan faced death threats and hate crimes following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The threats were reactions to “abusive” donation practices of the church, founded by self-claimed messiah Moon Sun-myung in 1954 in Seoul. 

Tetsuya Yamagami, the suspected gunman in the assassination of Abe during a campaign speech in the city of Nara on July 8, confessed to police that he came to hold a grudge against the former prime minister for his alleged link to the church. Yamagami’s mother reportedly made a huge donation to the Unification Church that forced her into bankruptcy. 

In a statement released on Monday, the church’s headquarters in Korea blamed media outlets for what it called “inaccurate and biased” news reports, following a news conference hosted by a group of Japanese lawyers on July 12 that it claims triggered a raft of hostile media coverage against it.

Since then, the church noted that several media reports have been produced solely based on comments from the members of the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales of Japan, a group that represents former Unification Church members and their families.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Yamagami’s mother was reported to donated $720,000 of her family’s inheritance to the church and then proceeded to go bankrupt a few years later.

This is a tricky issue that the Yoon administration is likely not going to win any domestic political points from even if they come up with a resolution. This issue is just too easy for the political opposition to demagogue:

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan agreed Monday on the need for an early resolution of the long-running dispute over Korean victims of wartime forced labor.

Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, held talks in Tokyo to discuss ways to mend soured bilateral ties and settle historical feuds stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea. Park arrived earlier in the day in his first official visit to Japan since taking office in May. 

During the talks, Park said the Seoul government will make efforts to draw “a reasonable solution” related to the force labor issue and the two sides shared the view that the issue needs to be promptly resolved, Seoul’s ministry said in a release. (….)

Possible solutions suggested by observers include the creation of a fund with contributions from Korean and Japanese firms or the South Korean government compensating the victims on behalf of the Japanese companies.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is absolutely bizarre that Shinzo Abe who was demonized by many in South Korea ends up being killed by a Japanese citizens angry because he believed Abe was friendly with a Korean church:

The man who fatally shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told police that his mother had made a “huge donation” to a religious body, and he harbored a grudge against the group, which he believed was associated with the Japanese leader, investigative sources said Saturday.

A day after the death of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, one of the sources also quoted Tetsuya Yamagami as saying something to the effect of “initially, I intended to attack an executive of the group” but decided to target Abe instead.

Japan Today

You can read more at the link, but it has now been reported the religious body that Yamagami was angered with was the Unification Church:

The Unification Church also known as the “Moonies” had ties to Shinzo Abe:

The Unification Church was founded in 1954 in Seoul by Sun Myung Moon who claimed to be the messiah. It has approximately 3 million members worldwide. In the U.S., it is known as the Moonies where it was famous for young church members who left school and careers to devote themselves to the church, especially fundraising, offering flowers in exchange for donations. (…..)

In Japan, the church is known as Touitsu Kyokai 統一教会 where it is famous for its mass weddings, including one in 1988 marrying 8,000 Japanese among the 13,000 brides and grooms that hadn’t even met each other until just before the ceremony.

Medium

You can read more at the link, but Abe had spoken at Moonie events before and the church provided his political party with campaign workers. It appears this was all enough to send Yamagami over the edge to target Abe after his mother gave the Unification Church an unknown amount of money that he probably thought should have gone to a loser like himself.

Very shocking news out of Japan yesterday that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed by an assassin. Even odder about this assassination is that the killer says he did not do it for political reasons:

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the victim of a fatal gun attack while taking part in a campaign event for the House of Councillors election in Nara City on Friday. He was 67.

After being shot at around 11:30 a.m., he was confirmed dead at 5:03 p.m. at Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, where he was transported by ambulance and a medical helicopter immediately after the attack.

According to doctors, Abe suffered a wound deep enough to reach the heart, and when he was brought to the hospital, he was in cardiopulmonary arrest, making rescue quite difficult.

He had two gunshot wounds to his neck. The medical team tried to stop the bleeding and gave him a large amount of blood through transfusions, but his heartbeat did not resume, the doctors said at a press conference on Friday evening.

Police sources had earlier said Abe was shot from behind in the upper back and elsewhere. Two shots were heard, according to witnesses.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, of Nara City, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder at 11:32 a.m. Yamagami is believed to have shot Abe at close range and a gun has been recovered, according to a police officer.

“I had no grudge against former Prime Minister Abe for his political beliefs,” Yamagami was quoted as telling the police during questioning, according to Nara prefectural police sources.

Yomiuri

You can read more at the link, but according to NHK they are saying Yamagami was dissatisfied with the prime minister and that is why he decided to kill him, but it was not because of his politics. Supposedly Yamagami thought Abe had ties to an organization he has a grudge against. The whole thing is bizarre which may mean this guy might just be a nut job trying to make himself famous like so many of the loser mass shooters we have in the U.S.

Just think how much crap must have been mixed into this school lunch meal if the principal was able to smell it enough to cancel lunch:

On June 13, a 20-year-old employee of a public school in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, was charged with mixing human feces into the lunch there. More specifically it was found in the okazu of the lunch, which loosely translates to “side dish” and refers to the non-rice component of a meal. It’s a pretty wide-ranging term that can refer to pretty much any food from fried chicken to a brick of tofu.

The incident occurred on Oct 8, 2021, when the principal of the school taste-tested the okazu of the day’s meal in advance in the staff room and noticed that it had a peculiar odor and discoloration. He immediately canceled the meal for everyone else and submitted the food to the public health center for examination. The results confirmed that it contained E. coli bacteria, and even though the okazu was made in a separate central facility, no other schools had any trace of fecal matter in their food.

Thanks to the keen senses and quick action of the principal, none of his students or staff members were exposed to the contaminated food and did not suffer any illness as a result. A subsequent investigation led back to the staff member, though it is unclear what her motive was or how she managed to mix the excrement into the food.

Japan Today

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think this guy will ever be stepping foot back into the village he once lived at after this:

A Japanese man reportedly gambled away millions of Japanese yen’s worth of COVID relief funds that he received by mistake.

Last month, the Japanese government inadvertently sent a COVID relief fund meant for 463 people worth 46.3 million yen ($360,890) to a 24-year-old man.

After receiving the amount, the man initially said he would cooperate with local authorities but eventually went into hiding. His sudden disappearance prompted the southern town of Abu in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture to file a civil lawsuit while also considering criminal action. (….)

According to his lawyer, the man lost the entire amount via online casino sites on his mobile phone.

“I don’t currently have the money and I don’t have anything with property value at hand. It’s actually difficult to return it,” the lawyer quoted his client as saying.

Yahoo News

You can read more at the link.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder around sexuality they do:

A Japanese man who married a hologram singer back in 2018 now hopes to raise awareness for “fictosexuals” – someone who is sexually attracted to fictional characters. 

According to New York Times, Akihiko Kondo is married to fictional character Hatsune Miku – a computer-synthesised pop singer who has toured with Lady Gaga and starred in video games. Now, four years into his marriage with Miku, Mr Kondo has opened up about his relationship with his anime wife. The 38-year-old revealed that he found love, inspiration and solace in Miku. 

Mr Kondo was dating Hatsune Miku for a decade before they had an unofficial wedding ceremony in Tokyo. According to the 38-year-old, his relationship with the fictional character helped him get out of deep depression. Speaking to NYT, Mr Kondo said that his assortment of Miku dolls ate, slept and watched movies together, and sometimes even went on romantic getaways. 

NDTV

You can read more at the link.