Japan asks a court to dissolve the Unification Church

The logo of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is seen at the entrance of its Japan branch headquarters in Tokyo. The Japanese government has asked a court to remove the church’s legal status.

Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images

SEOUL — Japan’s government has asked a court to revoke the legal status of the Japanese branch of the Unification Church.

It’s a rare move by a government whose ruling party has long had ties with both the church and other religious groups. It might not have happened if not for the bizarre murder of Japan’s ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year.

Japan’s Education Minister announced the government’s long-expected decision Thursday following an official investigation.

Education Minister Masahito Moriyama said the probe had found that the Japanese branch of the church has “long restricted many of its members’ ability to freely make decisions, and forced them to make donations and purchase goods, while they were not in a condition to make sound decisions.”

The Unification Church, known officially as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was founded in 1954 in South Korea by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah and staunch anti-communist.

The church has faced a raft of lawsuits from plaintiffs in Japan, who claim the groups duped and defrauded them, in some cases convincing them that the path to spiritual salvation depended on donating to the church.

The donations helped make Japan what the church says is its largest source of income.

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