Unification Church admits accept excessive donations from suspect’s mother

After the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the Unification Church acknowledged it accepted excessive donations from the suspect's mother, and said it would need to consider if that led to the killing.

Abe died in July after being shot during an outdoor campaign speech. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, said he shot Abe because of the former prime minister's links to the Moonies, which he blamed for bankrupting his family. The mother of Yamagami, a longtime member of the church, gave it 100 m 618,000 in donations two decades ago, plunging their family into poverty.

Hideyuki Teshigawara, a senior official at the church, said at a news conference on Thursday that he was deeply saddened to hear that Yamagami had told police that his anger toward the church led to the attack.

Teshigawara said he was leading reforms in the church to make sure its recruitment and donations were not forced or harmful to followers or their families.

The church acknowledged that Yamagami's mother donated more than 100 m yen, including life insurance and real estate, to the group. It later returned half at the request of the suspect's uncle.

A church lawyer, Nobuya Fukumoto, said he considered the donations by Yamagami s mother excessive and that we have to take it seriously if that happened. The police investigation of Abe's killing led to revelations of widespread ties between Abe and the South Korea-based church over their shared interests in conservative causes.

Nearly half of its lawmakers have ties to the church, according to a party survey. The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has pledged to cut all such ties, but many Japanese want a further explanation of how the church may have influenced party policies.

Kishida has come under fire for his handling of the church controversy, as well as for his plans for a state funeral for Abe, and approval ratings for his government have nosedived. Abe is one of Japan's most divisive leaders and plans for the state funeral next Tuesday have become increasingly unpopular as more details have emerged about the party s and Abe's links to the church.

On Wednesday a man set himself on fire near the prime minister's office in an apparent protest against the state funeral. The man suffered serious burns but was conscious when taken to a hospital. The police said it was an attempted suicide and would not provide further information. Media reports said he had a note expressing his opposition to the state funeral.

The attempted suicide amid heightened security was an embarrassment for the police, who have already been accused of providing insufficient protection for Abe.

In Japan, prime ministers' funerals are rare. Kishida said Abe deserves the honour as Japan's longest-serving leader after World War II and for his diplomatic and economic achievements.

Critics say that the plan for a state funeral was undemocratically proposed, has no legal basis and is an inappropriate and costly use of taxpayers money. Political analysts say Kishida decided to hold a state funeral in order to please Abe's party faction and to protect his own power.