Komeito, the junior party in Japan's ruling coalition, is worried about the possible consequences of the controversy over the religious organization known as the Unification Church on its showing in the country's unified local elections next April.
Komeito, whose main supporter is the lay Buddhist group Soka Gakkai, fears that increased public attention on the relationship between politics and religion may harm its electoral chances.
Leader Natsuo Yamaguchi and other senior Komeito officials have been traveling to Ibaraki's eastern Japan prefecture to campaign for the party's candidates in a local assembly election set for December 11.
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