Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Japan court strips ‘Moonies’ Church of legal recognition
The Freeman
|March 26, 2025
A Japanese court ordered on Tuesday that a religious sect be stripped of official recognition, the government said, in the wake of the assassination of ex-premier Shinzo Abe.
-
A government spokesman told AFP that the Tokyo District Court “issued the dissolution order” for the Japanese chapter of the Unification Church, founded in South Korea and nicknamed the “Moonies” after its late founder, Sun Myung Moon.
The Church is accused of pressuring followers into making life-ruining donations, and blamed for child neglect among its members, although it has denied any wrongdoing.
Former prime minister Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, was shot dead on the campaign trail in 2022, allegedly by a man who resented the Unification Church.
The alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, was reportedly angry that his mother had donated around 100 million yen ($1 million at the time) to the Church.
This story is from the March 26, 2025 edition of The Freeman.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Freeman
The Freeman
Capitol assures year-end bonuses to employees
Under the proposed allocation, regular and casual employees will receive a combined total of P55,000, consisting of P30,000 from the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA), P20,000 under the Service Recognition Incentive (SRI), and P5,000 as Performance-Based Incentive (PBI).
1 min
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Mandaue City hall employees to receive incentive
Mandaue City Hall employees here are set to receive a P5,000 Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) by January 2026, a city council official confirmed.
2 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Auto sales down 9% in November
The country's vehicle sales declined by nine percent in November from a year ago due to weak demand, but the industry remains optimistic about the final month of the year amid the holiday season.
1 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Border casinos caught in Thai-Cambodia fight
Thailand has struck multiple casinos linked to cyberscamming in neighboring Cambodia during an almost two-week-long border conflict, with the prime minister saying he would “take care” of fronts for fraud operations.
1 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Schools urged: Lead battle against garbage
Cebu City's classrooms are being pushed to the frontlines of a renewed campaign against the city's mounting garbage problem, as Mayor Nestor Archival urged schools to lead by example in strictly enforcing waste segregation.
2 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Christmas goes beyond shopping
TAGLE REMINDS CATHOLICS:
1 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Bgy workers to get one-time assistance
Cebu City's barangay-based workers who have long been at the forefront of service delivery and disaster response have gained formal recognition from the City Council with the approval of an ordinance extending one-time assistance to them for 2025.
1 min
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
Fragile truth, hot news cycle
The year 2025 will be remembered for the flood-control corruption scandal and the high-stakes power play that split an otherwise united political team into two.
3 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
EU okays 90B euro loan for Ukraine
EU leaders struck a deal Friday to provide Ukraine a loan of 90 billion euros to plug its looming budget shortfalls -- but failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to come up with the funds.
2 mins
December 20, 2025
The Freeman
An AI-Controlled Vertical Farm
The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Institute of Urban Agriculture made waves in unveiling what's being called the first autonomous AI-controlled vertical farm in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
1 min
December 20, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size