Tokyo High Court Upholds Dissolution Order for Japan’s Unification Church, Triggering Liquidation
The Facts
- The Tokyo High Court has upheld a Tokyo District Court order to dissolve the Unification Church’s Japanese entity, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
- The dissolution order is based on findings that the group unlawfully or improperly solicited large donations from followers, causing significant financial harm to members.
- As a result of the high court ruling, the organization will lose its status as a religious corporation in Japan and will no longer receive related tax benefits.
- Liquidation procedures for the group’s assets, including the appointment of a court‑supervised liquidator and processes to compensate recognized victims, will now begin.
- The Japanese government, through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, requested the dissolution order in 2023, citing long‑running harmful donation practices.
- The controversy over the Unification Church’s donation practices in Japan intensified after the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose alleged ties to the group were cited by the suspect.
- Under Japan’s Religious Corporations Act, a religious corporation can be dissolved by court order if it is found to have substantially harmed public welfare or violated laws, and this case is the third such dissolution after Aum Shinrikyo and Myojoji.
- The Unification Church can still appeal to Japan’s Supreme Court, but the dissolution and liquidation process remains in effect unless the Supreme Court overturns the high court’s decision.
Context
What happens to the Unification Church in Japan now that the dissolution order is upheld?
With the Tokyo High Court upholding the dissolution order, the Unification Church’s Japanese entity loses its legal status as a religious corporation and the associated tax benefits, and court‑supervised liquidation of its assets will begin, with a court‑appointed liquidator tasked with managing assets and arranging compensation for recognized victims Adnkronos,Straits Times,Central News Agency,早报,新华网,Nikkei Chinese,共同网,共同网,共同网,Kyodo News+. The group may continue religious activities only as a voluntary organization without corporate status or tax privileges Adnkronos,Straits Times,Japan Times,Nikkei Chinese,共同网,共同网.
On what legal grounds did Japanese authorities seek the dissolution of the Unification Church?
Authorities argued that the church engaged in unlawful or improper solicitation of large donations over a long period, including tactics such as approaching individuals without clearly disclosing its identity, which caused extensive financial damage to followers and was deemed an illegal act under the Civil Code and a violation of conditions in the Religious Corporations Act related to harming public welfare Straits Times,SCMP,Japan Today,Nikkei Chinese,共同网,共同网,Kyodo News+. The Tokyo District Court and then the Tokyo High Court concluded that these practices were severe, long‑running, and unlikely to be corrected voluntarily, making dissolution necessary and unavoidable Adnkronos,Adnkronos,Nikkei Chinese,TVBS,共同网,共同网.
How is this case significant compared with previous dissolutions of religious corporations in Japan?
This is the third time a religious corporation in Japan has been ordered dissolved under the Religious Corporations Act, following Aum Shinrikyo and Myojoji, but it is the first case where the primary legal basis is civil‑law illegal acts related to harmful donation solicitation rather than criminal offenses such as those that led to earlier dissolutions UDN,Central News Agency,Nikkei Chinese,即時新聞 instan…,TVBS,共同网,共同网,共同网. The ruling therefore marks a precedent in using large‑scale, damaging fundraising practices as grounds for dissolving a religious corporation Adnkronos,Nikkei Chinese,共同网,共同网,共同网.
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