What is the Unification Church Problem in Japan?

Who Constructed the Social Norms?

Abstract

How are social norms defined in Japan? What is the conflict between religion and society? General propositions can be explored by examining specific issues. This paper considers how the Unification Church has caused conflict with social norms in Japan, that is, the social construction of the Unification Church issue. The second part outlines the history of the Unification Church in relation to criticisms of the religious organization and the study of religion. In section three, I summarize the relationship between politics and religion in Japan and then present examples of rent-seeking activities by the Unification Church from the Diet records and the case of Asahikawa City in Hokkaido, Japan. Finally, I will confirm that the Unification Church, as a political religion, was used as an agent to promote strategic cooperation between the US and East Asia in the Far East region.

Fifty years of political inaction and media indifference have left the Unification Church issue unresolved. With the murder of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, Japanese society has once again realized the depth of the problem. Can Japanese religious studies and the Japanese religious community offer a perspective on social norms beyond the limited context of legal restrictions?