Abe Death Impact

Hi All,

Sitting on the other side of the world - the death of Abe was seen as a big thing but I'm guessing it's even bigger in Japan. What I'm hoping to hear from is locals in Japan (foreigner or Japanese) about how everything is going at the moment?

I'm not really after anything about Abe's politics - but I'm interested in hearing about the national mood - changes in laws - how the media is covering it - how it's affected the national sentiment or mood etc.

From my personal experience,I will give you some information.Well, japanese people always our Friend.Even in USA ,you will see how they treat black people.I never seen this
Kind of treatment in japan.Koban,police box scattered in every place.and they patrol local community.so crime rate is low.
My grandmother always remind/ tell me, what our creator want to say:As long as, you will stay in the right road, your creator is on your side ,so dont worry.

Here in Japan and Japanese-language information, initially, the shock was mostly about the death of a person, poor security, handmade weapon, and the fact that it happened right before an election. Now it's mostly about the "reikan-shouhou (the spiritual-pressure sales method)" and the suspected connection between the Unification Church cult and politicians.

The big reason that people are rightfully concerned about the topic is because there should be laws to prevent excessive donation that triggered the killing (among many laws that has been mysteriously difficult to be establish in Japan), and more people are starting to suspect that it could be because organizations like the cult is against these type of laws.

Another ongoing debate is about whether or not the state funeral for Mr. Abe should be held or not. Many people aren't convinced about such a big amount of our taxes being spent on his death.

Note that the majority of people here in Japan, or at least every person I've heard of including people on social media, claim that killing itself should not be justified whatever the reason.

Abe died 8 july, 2022 in nara
State funeral 27 september 2022

Without getting into the weeds, can someone who knows things on the ground more explain what is going on with the Ldp and the Unification Church...

mfedley,

The guy who shot Abe said his motive was because he suffered in his younger years and even now because his mother was devoted to that church (and donated all her - and the family’s - money to the church). He actually wanted to harm that church’s leader (and tried to get into one of the assemblies but couldn’t) so instead he targeted Abe, because he had sent a video message to that church in the past so he was considered “affiliated” with that church.

And this Unification Church (the former name) is known for their forceful/brainwashing donation tactics, let me just call it that, which can destroy individuals and families, and there are many victims across Japan, which have become an issue in Japan over the past few decades but not quite resolved.

So this shooting dug up this “trouble-ridden” church issue again, and now the government is looking among the LDP national/regional diet members to see if any others have had “affiliations” - and as it turns out, a LOT have had some “affiliation” with them in the form of the church participants voting in masses for the candidates (at election), coming in as volunteers to help the candidates’ offices, the diet members paying a visit to the church’s meetings to give some congratulatory speech (as the occasion required), sending a message/telegram on similar occasions, some getting invited to (or “called over to”) participate in the church’s seminars, etc.

So… has LDP been systematically “affiliated” with that church? Yes, that’s what it seems. Has it been supportive of possibly criminally-behaving church?

Kishida says he’s going to cut all ties with that church, but with all the believers = LDP voters around Japan, I doubt that this will really happen.

it seems that 統一教会 is present everywhere.
yesterday's NHK programs:
one day, a certain city council member received the response from a voter, he/she said that their group are voluntary working for cleaning local roads, but they need new brooms, etc. the council member introduced him/her to an appropriate section of city hall. this was the starting point. they became friends. the council member went to their meetings and lectured about city administration. that group was a part of 統一教会.
when I have watched it on TV, I feel some strong fears. if you are invited to voluntary groups, you must worry about seriously what they are.
they are now contacting you using new topics like "empowerment of women", "SDG's", "environmental protection", etc.
thus, I think it is easy for council members to be seduced and be cheated.

Thanks for the info.

I was aware of the tactics used by the Unification Church to pressure and fleece vulnerable elderly of significant amounts of cash. I'm also aware that Abe was said to have links with the church some how, which is something I don't fully know about.

What got me to repost was reading an article on Channel News Asia (Singapore) which stated that a significant number of Ldp members have some link to the Unification Church.

This seemed to be a very broad brush as it could mean they are members of the church, have some helpers or get funds through fundraising. Has the actual facts on the specific ties between the Ldp and the church come out?

I'm aware that a lot of news found in one language often does not get translated into English, so I'm interested to see what is known.

I also want to confirm that I am not suggesting or blaming the Ldp for anything as I don't know much.

It just seems as though this story could rock politics to the core like the MHB scandal in Malaysia..

Any more nuance from people that know more that the general foreigner who reads the odd article on Japan would be much appreciated...

The killer's mother was rich, but was no longer so after donating all her fortune she had saved for her children's education. The killer had assumed that support from influential politicians such as Abe is what's keeping the cult alive and active.

To this, members of the LDP claimed that election relies on voluntary support from the voters. If a voter comes up and says, "I want to help", it's hard to say no and you can't really check and see if they belong to a cult or not or how bad the cult is in the first place, LDP members claimed.

But if that is a fact, that means that it would apply to all politicians regardless of the party. So, now, people are questioning which politician is connected to the Unification Church or not, and the politicians of all parties are saying things like, "I was connected, but wasn't aware that it was cult," or "I was connect but not any more," or "I did this and that for the Church, but what is wrong with that?" or "I was never connected" and so on.

You also need to keep in mind that Japan strictly forbids mixing politics with religion. People have the freedom to follow any religion they want, but you can't link your beliefs to politics. A leader of our nation pledging on the bible is unthinkable here in Japan (although most Japanese people have no problem seeing foreign leaders pledging on the bible for their foreign nations).

My understanding is that this way of thinking started after WW2 in which it is believed that Shinto religion had a huge tie over politics during the war. So, in Japan, people believe that it's scary and not good to say "We do this political act for god," because it's really hard to say no to a god.

In any case, never than ever there is now awareness of the second generation of cult followers. In other words, the parents may be happy to follow their religion, but what about their kids who are forced into it?

Meanwhile, the Church is believed to be very conservative. The Japanese law is yet to approve of things like same-sex marriage or different-sir-name marriage among many other laws, and now people are led to believe that these are the things that the Church would not approve of. In other words, if politicians can truly say goodbye to the Church, maybe laws would change for the better.

By the way, I'm not saying that these are my personal beliefs. These are just what's going on in the Japanese society.

Thanks for the added context....

There is an interesting article on the JT today about what influence means and possible reasons for it:

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2022/09/12/commentary/japan-comme...