Osaka Prefecture's sign touting Unification Church's community cleaning work questions

MATSUBARA, Osaka -- A sign erected by Osaka Prefecture along a road here and trumpeting the Unification Church's community cleaning work has raised questions about whether the religious group should be recognized on public signage.

The church has been involved in extracting huge cash donations from believers and fraudulently selling high-priced items. Since the man accused of murder of former prime minister Shinzo Abe told police he was motivated by the ferocious resentment of the church for ruining his family.

The sign along National Route No. The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification engages in cleaning efforts for this sidewalk, referring to the Unification Church's current name and recognizing its volunteer Adopt a Road activities, cleaning pavements, roadside shrubberies, and other areas about once a month, according to 309, which is managed by the prefecture. According to the Osaka Prefectural Government's road environment section, organizations wishing to join cleaning activities must apply to their local prefectural civil engineering office. They are screened based on 14 criteria, including that the organization's beautification efforts do not have commercial purposes and that they will not cause traffic safety problems. After an agreement between the group, the prefecture, and the city of Matsubara, the sign was set up in September 2021 as a cleaning member.

The Tondabayashi civil engineering office said that although it received reports from the Unification Church that it carried out cleaning every month until June 2022, the group apparently told the office it will refrain from cleaning for a while and that it has stopped activities since Abe's July assassination.

The Osaka Prefectural Government wrapped tape over the sign to hide the description, with the consent of the Unification Church, following the Mainichi Shimbun's inquiries. In July 2016, a similar sign was set up in the prefectural city of Tondabayashi, after the Unification Church was recognized as a volunteer group. The group has not participated in any activities since August 2017 and the prefecture removed the sign on August 11 this year.

As of June 2022, 429 groups in Osaka were official community cleaning activity members, most of them being neighborhood associations and private firms. Other religious groups are also included in the number.

Osaka Prefecture's road environment section said, As we based our screenings on points such as the cleaning efforts effectiveness, it doesn't matter whether it's done by a religious group. We do not plan to reexamine these standards, but the agreement dictates that any doubts or issues that arise should be discussed with the three parties, but there may be cases where we consult about the Unification Church. The sign will be removed if the group ends its cleaning activities.