Japanese Media: "Unification Church Mobilized for Former Foreign Minister Nakasone's House of Representatives Election Victory"

Mainichi Raises Election Allegations Against Former Foreign Minister Nakasone Hirofumi
Sun Myung Moon, President, "Over 300 Unification Church Households Participated in Election"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Amid ongoing controversies over the collusion between the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church and Family Federation) and Japanese politics, suspicions have arisen that the former Unification Church was involved in the election campaign of former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone for the House of Representatives, sparking further debate.

On the 16th, the Mainichi Shimbun exclusively reported that there is evidence that Unification Church members participated in the election campaign of Hirofumi Nakasone, eldest son of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, for the House of Representatives. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone served as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives for 56 years and was known as a living witness to Japanese political history. The late Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, stated in a 2005 sermon to church members that "300 Unification Church households participated (in the eldest son's election)."

Former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone giving a speech. (Photo by Hirofumi Nakasone Facebook)

According to page 80 of volume 483 of the "Collected Sayings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon," which records Reverend Moon's remarks, he said in a sermon in Korea on January 16, 2005, "The kanji characters for the name Nakasone mean that an important person stands in the middle and continues the roots," adding, "If this significant mission is lost, the family and descendants will perish. This time, to get (his son) Hirofumi Nakasone elected, more than 300 Unification Church households participated in the election in a record-breaking manner. That is why he was elected."

Mainichi noted, "Since the former Prime Minister retired from politics in 2003, Reverend Moon seemed to mention helping the eldest son's election out of concern that the family would decline afterward," but added, "However, it is unclear whether the church actually supported the 2004 election."

Nevertheless, it was claimed that there is a deep connection between the former Unification Church and the Nakasone family. Among the former Japanese prime ministers mentioned in Reverend Moon's recorded speeches, Yasuhiro Nakasone appeared the most frequently.

Mainichi reported that after a comprehensive survey of volume 615, totaling 200,000 pages of the recorded speeches, among 31 former Japanese prime ministers mentioned 1,330 times, Yasuhiro Nakasone's name appeared 693 times. They analyzed that "the Nakasone family may have built connections with the church over two generations."

The controversy does not seem likely to subside easily. Former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, currently a seven-term member of the House of Councillors, was elected in the 2004 election, where suspicions of Unification Church support were raised, by a narrow margin of 8,000 votes.

Furthermore, since this suspicion was not revealed in the Liberal Democratic Party's own investigation, further controversy is expected. In September last year, when the Unification Church controversy erupted, the LDP asked its members of parliament to voluntarily report any connections with the church and published the investigation results. At that time, the LDP stated that 19 members responded that they had received organized election mobilization or volunteer support from the church, but the Nakasone family’s name was not among them.

However, the office of former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone denied the allegations. According to Mainichi, the lawmaker’s office responded, "There is no record of requesting or receiving election support from the former Unification Church in any election so far," and "Therefore, there is nothing to report to the LDP."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.