Japan Supreme Court Upholds Order to Dissolve Unification Church

Japan's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court order requiring the controversial Unification Church to disband, calling the move "necessary and inevitable," Kyodo News reported.

The Supreme Court of Japan upheld a lower court's order to dissolve the Unification Church over its controversial fundraising practices. (Photo: Kyodo News)

The religious group has faced intense scrutiny over its ties to ruling party politicians, particularly after the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by a man who blamed the church for his family's financial ruin.

The Supreme Court's Third Petty Bench issued the ruling on Monday, rejecting the church's appeal of a dissolution order handed down by the Tokyo High Court in March.

The lower court found that the church's fundraising and donation-solicitation practices were malicious and caused significant harm to victims.

The Unification Church argued that the dissolution order violated the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

The assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, said he targeted Abe during a 2022 campaign speech because the former prime minister's grandfather had helped introduce the Unification Church to Japan, according to investigative sources. Yamagami was sentenced to life imprisonment in January.